


Ilios High School

by Kaetastrophic



Category: HOMER - Works, The Iliad - Homer, The Odyssey - Homer, The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Drama, F/M, High School, Inaccurate Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, M/M, Modern Setting Retelling of Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Odysseus runs a highschool newpaper, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, The Iliad, The Iliad but its a highschool drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27205807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaetastrophic/pseuds/Kaetastrophic
Summary: Odysseus has all the secrets. His fault? It's all in a notebook and that notebook gets stolen. Paris threatens Helen and drama that resembles the events of The Iliad and Greek Mythology occur. Patroclus/Achilles also happens.ORCharacters from Greek Myth are dropped into a high school setting. I focus mostly on Odysseus but Patroclus/Achilles does happen.
Relationships: Achilles/Patroclus (Song of Achilles), Achilles/Patroclus of Opus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Agamemnon/Clytemnestra (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Calypso/Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Circe/Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Diomedes & Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Diomedes/Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Helen of Troy/Menelaus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Helen of Troy/Paris (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Odysseus/Penelope, Odysseus/Penelope (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 52





	1. I. Meet Patroclus Menoetius

**Author's Note:**

> As I said, this is mostly focussed on Odysseus and most of this fic is just me writing about random things that resemble the *vibes* that the characters give off.

why do Pat and Achilles give off bucky and steve vibes? ://

\---

**Clytemnestra Tyndareus:** Sister of Helen and cousin to Penelope. Dating Agamemnon. Popular; part of The Fairest.

**Helen Tyndareus:** Sister of Clytemnestra and cousin to Penelope. Dating Menelaus. Popular; part of The Fairest.

**Penelope Icarius:** Cousin to Helen and Clytemnestra. Popular; part of The Fairest.

**Agamemnon Atreus:** Brother to Menelaus. Dating Clytemnestra. Popular; part of the football team.

**Menelaus Atreus:** Brother to Agamemnon. Dating Helen. Popular; also part of the football team.

**Achilles Peleus:** Popular; part of the football team. Deemed the 'hottest guy' by the student lead newspaper team and by basically the whole school. 

**Paris Priam:** Brother to Hector. Son of principal. 

**Hector Priam:** Brother to Paris. Son of principal. Better liked than Paris.

**Diomedes Tydeus:** Popular; on the football team. 

**Odysseus Laertes:** Popular; top of the year and on the student-led newspaper team.

**Patroclus** **Menoetius:** New kid.

**righto let's go**

Patroclus didn't know quite what to expect when entering the new school. He had never been to a school that didn't have uniforms before. His own parent's probably wouldn't have approved it if Achilles's dad hadn't suggested it. And seeing as Achilles's is currently the worlds best son and student maybe Patroclus could be as well if he attended the same school.

Initially, he dreaded meeting the person who would be showing him around as they were usually teacher pet type deals. But when he met Odysseus he was _sure_ he wasn't a teacher's pet and rather something much worse.

"Greeting, brand new fellow classmate," was what the redhead said first, "I am Odysseus Laertes," But Patroclus was immediately thrown off when he was met with a bright flash from a camera.

"Did you just take a photo of me?" Patroclus stuttered, clearly surprised.

"For the newsletter," Odysseus shrugged. "So you're Patroclus?" Patroclus slowly nodded as he watched Odysseus scribble in his notebook. "Patro...clus...Menoe...tius..." 

Patroclus opened his mouth slowly before closing it. "Right,"

"And you're friends with Achilles?"

"Um, Achilles Peleus?"

"How many Achilles's do you know?" Odysseus rolled his eyes. 

Patroclus caught the words 'possible threat' next to his name. "Possible threat?"

Odysseus looked at him intently for a bit. "Yes. You're allied with Achilles. That makes you a threat,"

"Oh, do you not like Achilles?"

Odysseus snorted and waved his hand before walking down the corridor. "No, I am close with Achilles myself," Patroclus hurriedly followed after Odysseus. "You're a possible threat because you have the ability to cause chaos and drama in our high-school environment,"

"What do you mean?" Patroclus asked, thinking about whether he had just joined a high-school or a war zone.

"I am unsure of whether you are aware of who Achilles is in this school," Odysseus glanced at Patroclus. 

"I know he's like...popular?" 

Odysseus grinned. "At our school, you're either in the lower classes, well-known or dangerous. Popular is a relative term. For example, I would be deemed 'popular'," Patroclus couldn't help but smirk with a frown. He obviously took note. "I am!" Odysseus fumed. "I won't get into it. Achilles is well-known. As well as considered the 'Most Attractive' as deemed by last year's newsletter poll,"

"What really?" Patroclus wondered if Achilles ever mentioned this to him. 

"Yes. I am surprised he never expressed this information to you. He stated briefly that you were in close acquaintance with him from childhood," 

Patroclus ignored that Odysseus has recited this from his notebook. "Yes, we knew each other from when we were young. But we haven't spoken in a long while,"

"I see," Odysseus continue to scribble down notes.

"Are you going to show me around?" Patroclus sighed, getting used to Odysseus tendencies to zone out. 

"Oh right," Odysseus paused then took off his bag and fished out a piece of paper. "This is the map of the school. I have decided that instead of showing you around the school, as any moron could accomplish, that I will kindly inform you of the high-school hierarchy so you don't get murdered,"

"Hierarchy?" Patroclus glanced at the map Odysseus had passed him, which had some scribbles in red pen all over.

"We both know high-school is a battle-field," Odysseus sighed. He tiptoed a little bit to show Patroclus something on the map. "This is where we are, the Sophomores lockers. Right there...or right here," he pointed to a door near them. "Is a janitors closest. Except the janitor doesn't use it because he thinks it's always locked. Little does he know," 

Odysseus jingled some keys in front of him. Patroclus didn't ask.

"This is where we sometimes have meetings, but only I have the key," Odysseus said. "Come on,"

Soon, Patroclus found himself sitting on the floor of the janitors closest (which was stacked with cookie jars instead of cleaning supplies) and facing Odysseus, who had his phone screen pointed towards Patroclus. 

"Okay, so, I am friends with Achilles," he swiped to show a picture of Achilles, to which Patroclus realised how much his old friend had grown. "As I said, he's pretty popular and all the girls like him due to his physic. Then there's Diomedes," he swiped to a dark-haired boy. "He is also like Achilles although not as popular with the ladies. Unlike Achilles though, is that he is intelligent. He can almost beat me at being the top student. Almost," 

Patroclus sat in silence as Odysseus went through the student body. He kept note of whenever Odysseus said 'my friend' or 'Achille's friend'. 

"Okay, now be prepared for the Siblings," 

"The siblings?" 

Odysseus nodded. "There are three pairs of siblings you need to be aware of. There is The Fairest group, which is what they named themselves, which are made up of Clytemnestra and Helen, who are sisters. The third is Penelope but she is their cousin. Next are the Atreus brothers. They are ruthless, Agamemnon is dating Clytememnestra and Menelaus is with Helen. The next lot are the Priam brothers. They are the sons of the principle so they get all the benefits. Paris is a total loser but he's pretty so all the girls love him. And then there's Hector, who is relatively better. We don't really associate with those two," he finished that mouthful of information with a biscuit.

"Oh...that's a lot," 

"It is," 

The two of them jumped when the bell went. "Oh, is it second period now?"

"Yes," Odysseus stood up and opened the door. "I have English. You have Physics,"

"How do you know that?"

Odysseus glanced up from his phone. "I peeked at your timetable at reception. Nevermind that," he looked around as the hallways began to fill up. "Follow the map. Be careful," he put away his phone and walked off.

Patroclus finally had time to process what had just happened but he was pushed about by the crowd. Awkwardly, he followed the map Odysseus had given him.

Squinting at the corner which was circled in red pen 'The Fairest Nest', he looked up at where it corresponded in real life. He spotted three girls standing there, resembling the pictures Odysseus had shown her. 

One of the girls had striking blonde hair (that was Helen, Patroclus remembered), the other had slightly darker hair, slightly ginger (which Patroclus was pretty sure was Clytemnestra) and lastly, the girl on the right, who had slightly darker hair, was Penelope (he assumed due to the process of elimination). 

He immediately realised what Odysseus meant by a 'social hierarchy'. The three girls were obviously highlighted in the corridor compared to the rest.

"Hey," a boy approached the girls. He had dark brown hair and embraced Clytemnestra. That must be Menelaus, Patroclus figured.

"Hey, what are you doing?" a harsh voice was brought to Patroclus's attention. 

"Huh?"

"Are you checking out my girlfriend?" he seemed familiar. That's when Patroclus realised it was Agamemnon. _He was bigger in person._

"What? No- I wasn't-" Patroclus spluttered, panicking. 

"Agh beat it Agamemnon," another voice came from behind Patroclus. "He's the new kid, he doesn't know," 

Agamemnon frowned furiously but sighed. "Alright, last time new kid," and walked off.

"Thanks," Patroclus thanked the student.

"Don't look at The Fairest again, unless you want to be slaughtered," he said sternly before smirking. "I'm Diomedes,"

"Oh, right, I'm-"

"Patroclus? Yeah, I got the text," Diomedes shrugged. "Come in," he led Patroclus into a classroom.

"What text?"

Diomedes sat down. "Odysseus texted me," and then after a pause, "And a few group chats, but it's fine,"

"Is this Physics?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh," Patroclus slowly sat down next to Diomedes. He remembered Odysseus telling him that Diomedes was friends with Achilles. "So, um..."

"Don't worry about Odysseus. Just don't say anything too incriminating around him, otherwise, he'll publish it for the newsletter," Diomedes laughed.

"Oh, I wasn't really worried about him," Patroclus frowned. "He is rather odd,"

Diomedes glanced at the front of the class where the teacher hadn't arrived yet. "Yeah, you get used to it,"

**\---**

"He's new and he's cute," Menelaus shrugged. "Achilles, you might have someone to compete with this year,"

"Fresh meat," Agamemnon rolled his eyes. 

"Shush, he's coming," Clytemnestra giggled excitedly. The table watched as Diomedes brought Patroclus over.

"Hey guys, this is Patroclus," Diomedes introduced, taking a seat.

"We got the text," Agamemnon rolled his eyes.

"Hi," Patroclus awkwardly waved before sitting down next to Diomedes. He didn't see Odysseus but he certainly noticed Achilles sitting nearby. 

"So new kid," Helen turned to him. Patroclus almost stopped breathing, up close Helen was certainly _breathtaking_. "What's your deal?"

"Deal?" he frowned.

"What are your hobbies, interests, intentions," she waved about a carrot stick. 

"Oh, um, well I like drawing and stuff...?" Patroclus said, then realised that was probably the stupidest thing he could've said.

"Ugh, he's boring," Clytemnestra sighed.

"Ness!" Helen gasped, slapping her sister with the carrot stick. "He's not boring!" she turned to Patroclus. "Don't worry about her, sweetie. She's very judgemental,"

Patroclus nodded, slowly, almost expecting to be decapitated there and there. He spotted Odysseus walking over with Penelope. They sat down and Clytemnestra began talking.

"Oh Penny, love, don't sit too close to _him,_ your daddy won't like it," 

Penelope went red and gave her sister an accusing look. "Oh shut it, I'm allowed to talk to people,"

"Her dad won't let her date anyone," Diomedes whispered to Patroclus.

Odysseus took out his notebook and began scribbling in it again. Penelope realised Patroclus was there. "Oooh, it's the new kid!"

"Don't get too excited," Agamemnon sighed.

Penelope ignored him. "I'm Penelope,"

"Hi, I'm Patroclus,"

"Patroclus? What a name! It's lovely," she ignored Clytemenestra's grunt of disapproval. "What? Come on, you gotta admit he's cute! The girls will be all over you, don't worry," she glanced back to Patroclus with a grin.

"That depends, what team do you play for?" Menelaos shot Patroclus a look.

"Team? I don't play football...?" Patroclus said before he realised what they meant, and went red.

"Oh sweetie, he meant if you like boys, girls or both," Helen laughed. "Menelaos, don't be so rude, he doesn't need to tell us,"

"Hey, it's just a question," Menelaos grumbled.

"Um," Patroclus mustered up when the attention of the table was turned to him. He noticed the lack of pen scribble sounds coming from Odysseus. "What about you lot?" he finally blurted out. What was he supposed to say? _Oh, hey, I'm gay? But I'm not sure?_

"He's good," Helen nodded, glancing at Clytemnestra. "We're all some variety of 'not straight'," 

"That's Helen's way of saying she's fucked everyone at school," Clytemnestra shot at her sister.

"Hey!" 

Patroclus paused his attention on the bickering sisters and glanced at Achilles; that's when he realised Achilles was staring at him. He promptly turned his attention back to the sisters.

"Agamemnon! Tell her the truth," Clytemnestra whined.

"I don't know," Agamemnon sighed, knowing he'll get in trouble later anyways either way. "That's for Helen to know and for you to shut up about," 

Helen stuck her tongue out at her sister.

For some reason, Patroclus realised that this event seemed to summarise the group pretty nicely. He still hadn't spoken to Achilles.

**\---**

Odysseus was used to scrambling around the school, gathering intel, exposing cheating couples, taking photos and printing the newsletter two minutes before release.

He was finally taking a breath when it happened.

**New Notification  
Agamemnon to "gang gang": _party at the Priam's house tomorrow night. everyone will be there. go or I'll drag you there myself._**

A party. Odysseus loved parties. Not for their intended purpose though. Parties were where all the drama occurs, where all the secrets are exposed and where all the cheating usually happens.

He quickly scribbled down a reminder to memorise a collection of random but interesting 'truths or dares' he could ask someone as well as thinking up of as many believable white lies he would need to tell whilst being drunk or during a game of goodness knows what. 

"I'll take these copies down to the principle to review over the weekend," Penelope broke the silence of the empty room. Everyone else from the newsletter club had left. 

"Ok,"

"Did you get that text from Agamemnon? About the party?" she asked, picking up a stack of newsletters.

"Yeah. Are you going?" 

"Of course," she laughed. "Helen will help me sneak out of the house,"

"Brilliant. I shall expect to see you there," Odysseus smiled and watched her leave. Did he have his sights on one of The Fairest? Perhaps. Her father didn't like him and _no one_ ever gets with any of The Fairest girls, especially since two of them are already taken and the other, Penelope, was under her father's strict 'no dating' rules. 

He didn't particularly have _brilliant_ relationships in the past, only having two girlfriends before (compared to his attractive jock friends, this was little). Neither of them had even been good experiences. 

Calypso had been his first, and because of that, she took advantage of him, using him for popularity and selfish needs. He quickly got out of that (if 7 months is 'quicky'). 

After that, he had gotten more knowledgeable in the dating game, but ironically he hit a rotten apple again, dating Circe, who promptly cheated on him about four weeks after dating. They laugh about it now, seeing as that Odysseus was well known for exposing cheaters in relationships.

("They're easy to find if you look closer," he tells his friends).

And now, two years later, he was single and because all the Gods were against him, he was eying the one girl he couldn't have. And he wasn't even sure if Penelope would even be a good girlfriend if she was anything like Helen or Clytemnestra. 

Sure, Penelope was less intense than the other two, but she grew up with them, she was like them. True, she was smarter and kinder. But Odysseus, king of thinking things over ten times more than someone sane should, having ven diagrams, pros and cons, flow charts and analyses on how a relationship with Penelope would go, doubted any truth. 

("Man, Circe and Calypso messed you up," his friends would laugh). He doesn't tell them about how Calypso and Circe really did mess him up. 

But Odysseus was good at putting off pointless problems and went back to working on his homework, ignoring his Penelope Problem.

**New Notification:**   
**Achilles messaged you: _is Patroclus going to the Priam party?_**

Odysseus stared at the text messages. Sure it was just a text message. But Odysseus knew better. Two childhood friends reunited? Patroclus not answering the 'boys, girls or both?' question? Patroclus checking out Achilles? Achilles staring at Patroclus for the entirety of lunch? An anxious text message about whether Patroclus would attend a party?

Odysseus took about 0.3 seconds to think up of the conspiracy, quickly scribbling it down with all the 'evidence' to support it. 

**Odysseus: _I don't know. I can inquire for you._**

**Achilles: _Thanks._**

Odysseus frowned. He didn't have Patroclus's number. Of course not. He paused for a moment to think. Everyone had gone home already, most people had. He went into his contacts.

**To Hector Priam: _What is your location?_**

**Hector: _What?_**

**Hector: _I'm at home?_**

**Odysseus: _Can you do me a favour? You'll be in my book._**

(The book of favours; famous in the school; if you have a tick next to your name you could extract (mostly) any information from Odysseus for a certain amount of time (or questions). It was a valuable currency in the school. Odysseus didn't need favours often).

**Hector:** _**Fine. What is it?** _

**Odysseus: _Sneak into your father's office and look for the file on the new kid, Patroclus Menoetius._**

**Hector: _Fine, but if I get caught it's on you._**

**Odysseus: _Get me his phone number._**

Odysseus's friends weren't close with Hector with either of the Priam brothers. But Odysseus knew everybody. And the Priam brothers knew he was valuable. If Odysseus's friends knew he sometimes conversed with them, and even worse, gave them information in return for much-needed favours, he'd be disowned. 

**Hector: _0424069420_**

**Odysseus: _Thank you._**

Odysseus scribbled the number into his notebook, added it to his contacts and texted it.

**To Patroclus: _It is Odysseus Laertes. I showed you around this morning. Are you going to the Priam Party?_**

As he waited for a reply he continued working on his homework. Technically it was homework. He had finished all his real homework the previous day. Currently, he was working on coding the next week's newsletter's column. 

Smartly, he had devised a coded system in which he could hide the 'important' news into useless news so the teachers wouldn't suspend him.

For example, he was currently putting the words _'Accalia and Adrien are no longer together due to Adrien lying about cheating on the Maths test and Accalia catching him redhanded speaking badly about her'_ into _'the cheese in the cafeteria smell like carrots but students enjoy it'._

Sure, the final piece ends up sounding a bit ridiculous but as long as it doesn't contain any 'no-no' words, the supervisors don't really care what the article entails. 

**New Notification:  
Patroclus messaged you: ** _**The Priam party? Also, how did you get my number?** _

**Odysseus:** _**The Priam brothers have invited everyone to a party tomorrow night. You should come.** _

**Patroclus: _I've never been to a proper party before though. (How did you get my number??)_**

**Odysseus: _It's a good way to establish your position in the hierarchy. (Didn't you give it to me?)_**

**Patroclus: _I have homework. (No I didn't)._**

**Odysseus: _Even worse. (Maybe Achilles' dad gave it to me)_**

Knowing it would be a bit harder to persuade Patroclus to go, he hit him with:

**Odysseus: _Everyone's going. Even Achilles._**

**Patroclus: _Alright. Send me the details. (And that's a little weird but okay)._**

Odysseus smirked. 

**To Achilles: _He's going._**

\---

another high-school au? yes. 


	2. II. Odysseus Laertes Is Blind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> parties and ex's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/TW: drugs, mentions of non-consensual sex.

What did Odysseus know? He was a nerd who just so happened to be popular. Popular by association? Popular due to his valuable intel? Both are most possible. More possible than because he is 'attractive' or 'plays football'. Which are the only other two common factors between the popular male crowd. 

Either way, Odysseus found himself chatting to multiple people at the party. He knew, though, despite all this sweet-talking he was receiving, most of the students wanted something for him.

For example, he knew Alexandria wanted to know if her friend was interested in her crush. And then with Calais, who needed to know if he was being spoken about behind his back by his 'friends'. 

Odysseus knew the answer to both but he wasn't going to tell people this. Tired of being spoken to, he excused himself and tried to find the hot topic of the day: Achilles and Patroclus. He needed more evidence of his conspiracy. 

If he caught them redheaded would be great but by judging both of their characters he figured it was going to take a lot more than that.

Not realising he had zoned out again, he found himself face to face with Clytemnestra. 

"Odysseus!" 

"Evening, Clytemnestra," Odysseus blinked.

"I saw you-know-who," she said in a lower voice, cautiously looking around.

"Who are you referring to?" 

"Miss 'I thought I could get away with cheating on Odysseus'," Clytemnestra sipped from her cupped.

"Circe?" 

"What a pig. Showing her face her," Clytemnestra growled.

"Calm down, she is allowed to be here," Odysseus put down his drink. But his eyes flickered around to see if he could spot the straight dark hair that belonged to his ex. 

"Alright. If you're alright with her being here," Clytemnestra sighed. Odysseus figured she expected to be allowed to cause a fight tonight. "But call me if you change your mind on revenge," she stumbled off.

Odysseus gave a sigh of amusement before beginning to scroll through Instagram to see if anyone had any sort of incriminating evidence in their photos.

Apart from dumb drunken photos, he didn't find anything until he spotted a familiar blond friend in the background of a photo of Helen and Menelaus. Achilles. Putting two and two together, he recognised the location; the upstairs of the Priam house, most commonly where couples went to make out.

Frowning, Odysseus made his way up the stairs into the second floor. Personally, he never really found someone to go with to the second floor with (he was usually up here for investigation purposes).

Trying to figure out why Achilles was up here, he was too distracted to realise he bumped into someone.

"Terribly sorry-" Odysseus began before realising it was Circe. He almost rolled his eyes. "Excuse me," he tried to go past.

"Oh, Odysseus," she looked up at him. She was definitively drunk. "Kiss me," she stumbled forwards.

To catch her, Odysseus's fingers fumbled with his notebook, consequently dropping it. "Circe- you're drunk,"

"Drunk on love," she cooed, leaning closer to Odysseus, who was holding her at a distance.

"Did you tell that to Sebastian?" Odysseus sighed, leading her into a room to get her to lay down (of course the Priam household had many bedrooms).

"I told you I was sorry about him," she giggled, trying to fiddle with his shirt collar.

"I heard," he fumed, trying to get her onto the bed so she could rest. "Rest before you do something you regret,"

"Are you trying to get me to bed?" she whispered at him, trying to be seductive in her drunken state.

"You wish," he internally groaned, wishing to be back outside. 

"I always wondered why you never took the girls who fancy you...I always knew you were still after me," she mumbled, still trying to cling onto Odysseus.

This slightly took him off guard, but not enough to let her distract him. "You know that's not true,"

"Is that what you tell yourself?" she grinned before smashing her lips into his.

He didn't expect that- so naturally, he let go of her. Then she decided she _did_ want to lie down now, pulling Odysseus on top of her.

"Hey-" he tried to say when she paused to take a breath. "No-" 

"Come on..." she whispered, trying to kiss him again. 

Odysseus was strong (not that many people knew or expected) and he didn't want to accidentally hurt her. "I do not like you anymore Circe, so stop," he managed to get off and stand up, all ruffled up and annoyed at her. In the process, Circe had attempted to grab him one last time but knocked his glasses off instead. 

"Oh, you loser," she groaned, before muttering all sorts of things to herself. Odysseus quickly walked out of there, before realising he left his glasses in there.

_Shoot,_ he cursed, realising he couldn't very well return in there with Circe still semi-conscious and deliriously blind to that fact that _he didn't like her anymore_. He decided to go back later, and for now to find Achilles- his original plan. 

But Achilles found him. "What are you doing up here?"

"Achilles?" Odysseus identified the blurry figure. He had forgotten how blind he was. "I was looking for you,"

"Why?"

"Why are _you_ up here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What's it to you?"

"Well, I think we want to know if our friends are getting _it,_ you know? And word will get around you were up here and one of The Fairest will want to know," Odysseus mumbled on, still dazed from what had happened with Circe.

"They'll want to know what you were doing with Circe. Word will get around that you went into that room with her," Achilles said back.

_Double darn,_ Odysseus cursed again. This night was getting messy. "I'm going down to get a drink," he turned around to walk down the stairs.

"Wait-" but it was too late, Odysseus's eyesight failed him again, missing the first step of the staircase and falling. He must've hit his head on the second step as he blacked out almost immediately. 

*****

When he came back to consciousness, he thought something was horribly wrong, since he couldn't hear any music or loud voices from the party. 

"Odysseus? Oh, you're alright," he heard Penelope's voice.

"What?" he coughed, sitting up. His head hurt.

"This is the first time I've seen him speechless," Diomedes's voice came through.

Odysseus waited a second before his eyes adjusted to the light. "What happened?"

"You had a little too much to drink," Clytemnestra laughed. Odysseus realised they were in the Priam house's lounge room and it was Sunday morning.

"I...didn't drink last night," Odysseus muttered, frowning. Clytemnestra, Penelope, Agamemnon, Hector, Diomedes and Patroclus were sitting about, all with variations of coffee or banana smoothies. 

"You fell down the stairs," Penelope explained, passing towel to Odysseus, who took it a little confused. She gestured to his eyebrow and he realised dried blood was on his face. Thankful, he tried to wipe it off. "Achilles got us to help when you fell,"

"When we got to you, you had already woken up and were complaining about our science class before falling asleep," Diomedes laughed.

"Where is everybody else," Odysseus asked, sitting up properly on the couch.

"Some are upstairs still waking up, most have left," Hector recapped, looking about the trashed house. "If Paris doesn't help clean up this mess I'll sue him," he had some rubber gloves on.

"Has Achilles gone home?" he asked, smiling at Patroclus.

"Yeah," Patroclus replied.

All of a sudden, the events of last night came rushing into Odysseus's head. "Oh shit-" he stood up quickly (bad idea).

"Woah," Penelope exclaimed, standing up with him, helping him not fall over.

"Calm down, Odie," Clytemnestra smirked.

"Don't call me that," Odysseus coughed, standing up properly. He tried to properly remember what happened last night. "I lost my glasses..." and something else, he wracked his brain for it. "And my notebook- no no no no no," he began freaking out, heading to the staircase, or what he thought was the staircase. He promptly tripped over a trash bag he didn't see in front of him.

Catching himself, he carefully stepped over it.

"Your notebook?" Diomedes frowned. "You mean the one you write in all the time?"

"Yes!" Odysseus exclaimed as he walked up the stairs, guiding himself with his hands.

"The one with all the secrets?" Agamemnon confirmed slowly.

Odysseus paused. "Yes," 

"That can't be good," Patroclus stood up. He had watched all the students stare at the notebook in Odysseus's hands at the beginning of the party. He had attended only one day at this school and he already knew the importance of this notebook.

"Where did you lose it?" Hector asked worriedly. He himself knew Odysseus had incriminating evidence in it regarding him. 

"Um..." he was halfway up the stairs. The others had begun to crowd behind him. "Outside a bedroom..."

"Which one?" Patroclus said.

"Why were you in front of a bedroom, Odysseus?" Clytemnestra smirked.

Odysseus made it to the top and tried to remember where he'd gone. He noticed other students moving about, waking up. 

"What are you guys looking for?" Paris's voice came, sounding very groggy.

"Nothing!" Hector said quickly. "Just...Odysseus's glasses,"

"Yeah, where are those?" Diomedes chuckled. "Don't want you to bump into someone,"

"Or to kiss the wrong person," Clytemnestra added with amusement.

"Ugh," everyone turned to the sound. "Nerd, you left your glasses in here," it was Circe, even the half-blind Odysseus could tell. 

"Circe?" Clytemnestra almost choked. 

She glared at her and eyes Odysseus, holding out his glasses. "Come on, nerd,"

"Hey," he grumbled, taking them back, glad he could see again. "I almost got a concussion because of this,"

"Did you hit your head on the bed headboard?" Clytemnestra giggled, earning a slap from Penelope.

"Odie here couldn't keep his hands off me last night," she winked at him.

Odysseus ignored the explosion of giggles from Clytemnestra and the stunned silence from the rest of the room (which had fallen to silence at the scene). "We both know what happened last night. You were drunk and wanted me, not the other way around," 

"You just can't admit that the almighty Odysseus made a mistake," Circe grinned.

"So you admit you were a mistake?" Odysseus glared, his headache worsening. He tried to glance around for his notebook...it should be around here.

"Oho..." Clytemnestra was too entertained. 

Diomedes stepped in (he had seen an angry Odysseus before). "Look, Circe, Odysseus probably has a concussion or something from falling down the stairs. I'm sure he didn't do anything irrational last night..." he eyed his friend. "How about we just all...calm down and go home?"

"Ugh, I don't need you guys anyways," Circe sighed and went down into the kitchen.

"What was that?" Hector raised an eyebrow at Odysseus, who immediately went on all fours to find the notebook. 

"She...was drunk...and wanted me back," Odysseus slowly said as he maintained his attention to finding the notebook. "Trying to wrestle me into the bed...she knocked my glasses off. Nothing...happened between us last night," 

"Right..." Clytemnestra sighed.

"Help find this notebook," Hector told the others, lowering his voice so anyone else would here. If they knew the notebook was out on the loose then everything would go into chaos. 

As people began looking, Penelope noticed some quite sobbing from a bedroom. She slowly approached it;

"Helen?" she whispered in surprise when she saw her cousin on the bed, crying. "What's wrong?" All sorts of horrors crossed Penelope's mind.

Helen spotted her and began bawling again. "Oh, Penny..."

"What happened?" Penelope went to sit next to her.

She didn't reply and continued to cry. Penelope sighed and walked back over to the door. Outside, everyone was distracted looking for the notebook. "Okay, let me help you sneak out," 

Helen nodded, still hugging herself in her poofy white jacket. "Okay..."

Penelope managed to get her down the stairs without anyone noticing...except;

"Where are you off to?" Odysseus asked, glancing over at her.

"Um," her mind raced. Could she lie to Odysseus? She had to try. "My mom called and she still thinks I'm at a friends house and wants me back for some chores," she smiled. "Say bye to the others,"

"Oh, alright. Good luck," Odysseus smiled back and went back to searching.

Penelope sighed in relief and rushed off to find Helen at the front, heading to her car. "Your place or mine?" she took out her keys.

"Yours," 

**\---**

"I can't believe this...someone must have found it," Diomedes exclaimed.

"That's not good...right?" Agamemnon made sure. 

"Of course not!" Clytemnestra bit her lip. "Odysseus," she grabbed him by the shoulders. "Is there anything about me in that notebook?"

"I...I think so," he nodded.

"Oh, shit..." 

Hector looked about the relatively clean house. "Okay, well, I can try and find out everyone who went onto the second floor..."

"It's impossible," Diomedes collapsed onto the couch. " _Everyone_ came to this party, even people not invited. I saw _Narcissus_ here,"

"Oh god..." Agamemnon took out his phone. "Um, Menelaos says I'm needed back home. Um, tell me if you guys figure anything out. My name's in that notebook too," he hurried out of the house.

"This is brilliant," Clytemnestra sighed. "Of course Circe makes you lose it. I told you she was trouble!" she pointed her finger at Odysseus.

"I'm sorry, who's Circe?" Patroclus asked, trying to remember if Odysseus had mentioned her name in his long list of 'potential threats'. 

"His dumb ex-girlfriend," Clytemnestra deadpanned.

"Ex-girlfriend?" Patroclus exclaimed, instantly regretting the tone of his voice.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Odysseus sighed. 

"No- I didn't mean that," Patroclus stuttered. "So...she wants revenge?"

"Now? After like, two years?" Hector shook his head. "I doubt it,"

"She's too smart for revenge," Odysseus said.

"Do you think this was planned?" Clytemnestra proposed. "You know? I mean, if I wanted to get Odysseus off guard I would also too, try to seduce him,"

Hector coughed into his cup. 

Odysseus closed his eyes. "It was all too rushed for it to be planned. She was in the room the whole time, and she was extremely drunk, I know that for sure,"

"I'm not crossing it off though. I don't trust her," Clytemnestra crossed her arms. 

"It's nearly midday," Hector looked up at the clock. "I'll finish cleaning up...if I find anything I'll text you," 

"Alright," 

And they left, the only ones knowing a bomb of information could be out in the wild.

**\---**

Odysseus was walking down the street back to his house when he spotted Helen's car outside Penelope's house. He frowned, trying to mentally work out what business she could be doing at Penelope's house. 

Zoning out, he hadn't noticed Helen walking out. 

"Odysseus?" Helen broke his concentration.

"Oh, sorry," he tried to smile at her.

"What are you doing?"

"I just left the Priam house," he said. "What are you doing over here?"

"Just...talking to Penelope," 

And at that moment Odysseus created another conspiracy; He spotted Helen's car outside when he woke from consciousness, no one had left since then, except Penelope, since they would've seen them pass them. And Penelope had seemed rather distracted when saying goodbye.

"Odysseus?" 

"Sorry," he put his hands in his pockets and smiled.

"Let me give you a ride home," she offered, entering her car. 

"Alright, thank you," he said, getting into the passenger seat. 

"Penelope seemed rather distant when saying goodbye, is she okay?" he asked, not looking over at Helen.

He noticed her take a pause of breath. 

"Yes, everything's fine with her," 

Odysseus realised he'd need to take this slow. Something was definitely up. "Well, surprisingly I'm not,"

This caught her attention, in her years of knowing Odysseus, he was _always_ fine. He was always ten steps ahead of everyone. Any drama or dilemma that concerned him he eliminated in seconds as he whipped out receipts and evidence. 

"What's wrong?" Helen figured she'd need to take him slowly if she was to get anything out of Odysseus. 

And Odysseus knew The Fairest sisters, their thirst for knowledge. "At the party, I got a little disoriented,"

"You got drunk?"

"No, but I did pass out, from falling down the stairs," Odysseus realised how stupid that sounded.

"How? I thought your balance was impeccable," Helen said jokingly. Odysseus noticed her shaking hands.

"Circe knocked my glasses off," 

"Circe?" 

"Yes. She tried to...um, get me but failed. Evidently," Odysseus realised how uncomfortable he was. Was this how his classmates felt when he interrogated them?

"Oh wow. Are you alright?" 

"I suppose," he slowly said. Personally, he was fine. He had bigger things to worry about.

Helen stopped the car and Odysseus realised they were outside his house. She turned to him, looking rather nervous. "Well, something happened to me as well last night,"

He raised his eyebrows, pretending to be surprised. "Bad or good?"

"...Bad?" she shook her head. "Definitively bad. Paris drugged me,"

"Paris?" Odysseus coughed. He did not expect that. "Oh,"

Helen nodded, still gripping the wheel. "I didn't realise, I mean, I trusted him. Our parents are friends right?"

"What...happened?" Odysseus asked slowly.

"Oh Odysseus, he made- he- we did it, and," she began crying again.

Odysseus awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder. "You...need to tell someone. That isn't alright,"

"But I consented!"

"You were drugged. That doesn't consent," he assured. 

"This morning...he told me not to tell anyone, and to break up with Menelaus," she got some tissues from the glove compartment.

"Why? He has no power over you now,"

"He does, he...somehow knows about...the 3rd of October," she hesitantly added. "Oh, he'll get so mad if I told you,"

Odysseus remembered on the 3rd of October. Not personally, but he was there at the end of it. The Fairest sisters and some other girls had partaken in marijuana secretly, resulting in some vandalism and a small trip to Odysseus's house at 4 am for him to help with a small injury that was sustained. 

"If anyone knew...we'd be expelled and in so much trouble. I can't do that the Penny and Clytemnestra!" her throat was all coarse.

He nodded. "I see," but internally he was trying to work out how Paris would even know about that. Only he and those who were in the actual affair knew about it.

"I need to break up with Menelaus, and...date Paris," Helen swallowed, nodding. "Odysseus, you must swear to not tell anybody this. No one at all,"

"Does Penelope know?" Odysseus asked.

She nodded. "Don't tell anyone. I know I can trust you, Odysseus,"

*****

When Odysseus entered his bedroom and glanced at the box full of used notebooks peeking from underneath his bed, it clicked.

_Paris had the notebook._ It was the way he could've known. But now Odysseus had no one he could tell without exposing Helen's secret.


	3. III. Achilles Peleus Hates Highschool Drama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> break-ups and suspension

Achilles was in the garden at 1 pm when he got spam of notification from all his friends. 

**Diomedes messaged you: _dude so much has happened, idk if I can tell you but call me!_**

**Patroclus messaged you: _um...is this school this crazy all the time?_**

**Clytemnestra messaged you: _let me spill the tea! I can't tell anyone but I'm sure you're fine._**

He had frowned down at the hundreds of messages. He spent all of Sunday afternoon texting and calling his friends, trying to piece together what had happened.

But he enjoyed his call with Patroclus the best, in which they didn't talk about how some wild thing happened at the party. It was short, but he was glad they talked a bit, even if it was brief. 

The group had a conversation on Friday about what day was best to have as your first day of school. Some decided Monday's were best because it was the start of the week. Others supported Friday's since you could meet everyone and do a 180 on the weekend if something happens. Some thought mid-week was best.

Achilles didn't know which was best. But did wish Patroclus had come a little earlier so he didn't have to wait two whole days until Monday to have a proper chance to speak to him. But it was Monday now and Achilles wished he had the week to prepare.

"Look! It's you!" Diomedes laughed, pointing to his 'art' project.

Achilles made an amused disapproved face at it, before glancing at Patroclus's work. "That's really good,"

"You think?" he smiled up at him. "So is yours. I remember your drawings from when we were kids,"

Achilles looked at his own work. "Well, we both know I reached my peak at 6 years old. Nothing I make now is worthwhile,"

Patroclus laughed. 

**\---**

"I've never seen him worried," Agamemnon frowned. "If he's worried then it's the end of us,"

"He's just thinking," Penelope said, poking her yogurt. "He thinks all the time,"

Achilles looked over at Odysseus, who was scribbling into another notebook (with a blue cover this time). He was sitting at the other end of the table and was deeply invested in whatever he was thinking.

Achilles had managed to piece together what had happened: Circe had tried to seduce Odysseus, causing him to lose his notebook and fall down the stairs. He didn't know _why_ he fell down the stairs but he didn't bother asking.

"What the HELL!?" shouts from the corridor leaked into the cafeteria.

Everyone fell silent and looked over at the doors.

"YOU'RE WITH FUCKING PARIS PRIAM?!"

Everyone glanced at where the Priam bothers sat, where Paris was sitting pretty smugly and Hector looking wide-eyed and just as surprised and confused as everyone else.

"NOW? AFTER THE PARTY? THAT'S FUCKING SUSPICIOUS OF YOU!"

Everyone could now clearly distinguish the voice as Menelaos's. Clytemnestra glanced nervously at Agamemnon.

"I THINK YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH THAT SLUT THAT'S WHAT!" 

"What the fuck is he talking about," Agamemnon abruptly stood up, walking over to Paris's table. Clytemnestra hurried after him, trying to hold him back.

Paris shrugged. "I guess she likes me better than your brother. I can see how he resembles you," he bit into his celery stick.

"Did you sleep with her on Saturday?" Hector questioned, looking pretty angry. "You can't do that to someone who's taken,"

"She wanted me, so talk to her," Paris looked at him in the eye. 

Clytemnestra was too distracted from holding Agamemnon that she didn't notice Penelope leave the cafeteria.

But Achilles and the others did. "We should comfort her," Achilles began.

"But Paris said _she_ cheated on Menelaus," Diomedes looked uncertain.

"She's our friend. I'd rather ask her than believe him," Achilles said, getting up. Patroclus awkwardly followed them all out of the corridor.

This left Odysseus in the cafeteria. But no one noticed.

"Helen?" Penelope called, walking through the corridors. She almost jumped when she spotted the rest of her group. "I can't find her," 

"Helen?" they began calling.

"You won't find her here," Menelaus looked up at them. 

"What did you do?" Achilles frowned.

"Nothing!" he held his hands up. "Look, I know she's probably closer to you than I am, but I promise I did absolutely nothing. I am just as confused as you are with this break-up," 

"Did you talk to her about what happened?" Penelope asked exasperatedly. 

"Sort of," Menelaus sighed. 

"Everyone heard you. In the cafeteria. Odysseus doesn't even have to code that into the newsletter. Everyone knows," Diomedes looked at him.

"I...I lost my temper. She walked off, I'm looking for her too," Menelaus glanced around. 

Achilles wanted to yell at him, for some reason it felt like he wasn't the victim here but Penelope beat him to say anything. 

"Help us look for her then," she said calmly. Achilles inspected her, did she know Helen was planning this? 

They spent most of the break looking for Helen and finally found her in the library. She didn't seem too pleased at their presence.

"Helen? I'm sorry I yelled, please tell me what happened," Menelaus began.

"No," she shook her head firmly.

"How can you chose Paris over us?" Diomedes gestured.

"I...didn't, I just..." she looked like she was going to cry. "We can still be friends right?"

"How?" Achilles said with a sigh. "It's _Paris_. We can tolerate Hector, but not Paris,"

"I know- but..." Helen seemed to not have realised this factor of the break-up. "I'm sorry,"

Penelope didn't say anything. 

Menelaus began laughing out of hysteria. "I can't believe this. Tell me at least," he looked at her. "Did you cheat on me with him at the party?"

She hesitantly answered. "I...I just..."

"Yes or no," he interrupted, looking extremely flustered. She burst into tears. "Fucking hell," he said before storming out. 

Helen looked over at others, but they all just slowly left as well. Achilles noticed Penelope stay back a little longer than the rest before she turned around with the rest of them.

"I can't believe this," Diomedes rubbed his forehead.

"Wow indeed," Patroclus muttered. 

"Trust me, this usually doesn't happen," Achilles assured him.

"You caught us at a bad time," Penelope agreed. 

"It's not horrible compared to my old school," Patroclus added, glancing about.

"I'm sorry about this Menelaus," Diomedes fumed.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I'm going to go and calm down," he said in a shaky voice and left. 

"Did not think this Monday was going to go like this," Achilles began as they entered the cafeteria. He noticed Odysseus missing. And so was Paris and Agamemnon.

"Oh guys, what happened? I swear I didn't know Helen was going to do this," Clytemnestra approached them frantically. "Paris and Agamemnon left, all angry at each other," 

"That doesn't sound good," Patroclus avoided the looks that everyone in the cafeteria were giving them.

"Helen did cheat on Menelaus on Saturday," Diomedes added. "Where's Odysseus?" he noticed the lack of scribbling noises.

Clytemnestra spun around, realising he wasn't there. "Um, I don't know. He was just there before,"

"I am not running around the school again looking for people," Achilles groaned.

"Let's go, these stares are annoying," Clytemnestra crossed her arms.

"We should find Agamemnon and Paris. To make sure they don't murder each other," Diomedes sighed.

"I guess we're going be running around the school looking for people," Patroclus grinned at Achilles.

When the group was walking mindlessly around the school corridors they didn't expect to find what they found. They figured they'd find either Paris or Agamemnon on the floor with the other beating the other to death. 

But instead, they found Paris against the lockers at the hands of none other than Odysseus.

"Odysseus?" Clytemnestra gasped. 

"Listen, idiot, I know you have it," Odysseus's voice rasped before he realised he had a crowd.

Paris noticed them too. "I have no idea what you're talking about," He clenched his teeth as Odysseus punched him again. "My father will suspend you for this,"

Odysseus shook his head, coughing. "You are not as powerful as you think. Where is it? Give it back," 

"He's hurt," Penelope watched them worriedly.

"Who? Paris or Odysseus? Who knew Odie could fight?" Clytemnestra said, with a look of delight.

"He's bleeding," Penelope said quietly.

Odysseus leaning in closer to Paris. "Give it back. You won't regret it,"

Paris laughed. "You're the one who acts all-powerful. You have nothing against me. Nothing worse than what I've got going for me,"

Odysseus shook his head and whispered three words. Now, did Odysseus know for sure that Paris would be afraid? No. But if Odysseus acted like Helen didn't care if her secret was exposed then Paris had no ammunition. 

"She told you?" he stared wide-eyed at him. "Fucking-" he punched Odysseus, causing him to stumble back. "Well, I don't care. I won't get expelled. My father won't even tell the cops,"

"What if _we_ do?" Odysseus coughed, wiping the blood from his face.

Paris laughed. "Like you have the balls. How would you put it...red highlighters make peaches wet," 

Achilles frowned at this sentence. It didn't make sense. A few seconds and he realised it was because it was in code. In Odysseus's newsletter code. 

At this, Odysseus's eyes widened. He didn't reply.

"I win, Laertes. I win," Paris spat at him and walked off.

"I know you fucking have it," Odysseus called after him but fell to his knees, groaning.

"Are you alright?" Penelope stepped forward.

"That was fucking epic," Clytemnestra exclaimed. "I didn't know you could kick ass, Odie!"

Odysseus didn't reply, staring at the ground. Paris was an idiot, but he had the upper this round.

Achilles groaned in a tired sigh. "What happened?"

Odysseus stood back up, inspecting his cracked glasses. "Nothing," and walked off.

"Hey! Dude!" Diomedes called after him but he didn't reply.

"What on earth just happened?" Patroclus said what everyone was thinking.

"Odysseus just beat the shit out of Paris..." Clytemnestra began. "Then he said Paris had something...the notebook maybe? But he threatened him with a secret to which Paris retaliated with a secret of his own,"

"Yeah, what does 'red highlighters make peaches wet' even mean? Does anyone know the code off by heart?" Diomedes frowned, counting his fingers.

Clytemnestra opened her mouth to reply before pausing. "Oh my god," 

"Wait, you decoded it?" Achilles frowned.

"I read that newsletter every week," Clytemnestra shrugged.

"Well, tell us!" Penelope urged. "What made Odysseus speechless?"

"Yeah, what's his secret?" Achilles nodded.

Clytemnestra bit her tongue. "Um..." she weighed the pro's and con's, glancing at Penelope. "I mean...I deciphered that he 'likes pineapples'...and I think that's incorrect,"

"Ugh, alright, I'll get the guide after school and we can decode it then," Diomedes said. 

Clytemnestra frowned. Achilles looked at her. She was lying.

**\---**

The first place Clytemnestra looked was the nurse's office. But Odysseus wasn't there. Next, she looked at the library, but he wasn't there. It was soon class and she was stuck in English for the next period. 

When Social Studies came by she went by the Sophomores lockers and remembered the janitor's closet. She approached it closely and did her special knocking pattern. 

Waiting for a moment, the door clicked opened and she slipped inside; to find Helen and Odysseus.

"Helen?" she exclaimed. "What the fuck is going on,"

"I can explain," she blurted out. And she did, Clytemnestra getting angrier and angrier at Paris. 

"Why didn't you just tell everybody!"

"Because then everyone would know about the 3rd of October. We'd get in so much trouble," she explained, fiddling with the tissues in her hand. "Paris planned this,"

"Do you think Circe was in on it?" Clytemnestra suggested.

"I doubt it, she doesn't even speak to Paris," Odysseus said, speaking for the first time Clytemnestra had arrived.

She looked at him. He had a few bruises on his neck and looked a little ridiculous with a black eye forming underneath his glasses. "I deciphered what Paris threatened you with," 

Odysseus looked at her with a face she didn't recognise. "Did she decode it?"

"No, they're going to after school," she replied. "You have about two hours,"

"Two hours until everything goes to shit," Odysseus ran his hands through his hair. "This is all my fault. Paris probably didn't think he could go through with his ridiculous plan until he found my notebook and realised he had leverage," 

"It isn't your fault," Helen leaned back on the shelves. 

"It is. I'm an idiot for writing everything in notebooks. I should've done it all in code at least. I should've known better than to make an information bomb at a high school,"

Clytemnestra shrugged. "Hopefully everyone will take one look at Paris and fear you for the rest of high school. I saw Paris earlier and he looks awful,"

"Two hours...Paris will tell some lie about me fighting him after school to his dad," Odysseus groaned. "I'm dead,"

"You'll figure out a plan. Two hours is more than enough time," Clytemnestra assured. "You managed to figure out that plan to convince our father to allow us to date Agamemnon and Menelaus in like, four minutes last year,"

Odysseus didn't look hopeful. "We have nothing against Paris. And with his dad as the principle, he's not going to care about anything we say,"

"I think I like boastful Odysseus better," Helen sniffed with her eyes still wet from crying every three seconds.

"What happened to Agamemnon?" Clytemnestra suddenly asked Odysseus.

Odysseus looked at her. "He and Paris were bickering when I interrupted. When Paris threw the first punch he left,"

"Oh," Clytemnestra rubbed her eyes. "Darn. Who else knows about the truth?" 

"You, Odysseus and Penelope. And Paris. You aren't to tell anyone," Helen answered, telling her sister sternly.

"You mean I have to lie to our friends? I can't do that," she pouted. "And Agamemnon is so angry, I can't lie to him- and Menelaus, shouldn't he know?"

"He can't. Neither can Agamemnon. They will get madder and Paris will definitely know. Then it's game over if that happens," Helen explained.

"Ah fuck then," Clytemnestra said, cursing. 

**~**

Unfortunately, despite Clytemnestra's hope, Odysseus was unable to figure out a plan by the end of the day. Consequently, he was sent to the principal's office as expected and suspended for the week. Apart from all the disappointment, luckily for Odysseus, his dumb friends were unable to decode the comeback Paris had shot at him. 

As told by Penny to Clytemnestra, who told Odysseus, they thought the final thing said something along the lines of "Persistence and endurance" when in fact, it did not say that but rather reveal Odysseus's complicated infatuation for Penelope. 

It was Tuesday the next week and Achilles was already tired. The whole new shift of the school's social environment had made things ten times tenser; Helen tried to avoid them, with people like Diomedes and Hector giving her dirty looks.

Paris stalked about with his nose in the air and looking as if he owned the school. Achilles wanted to hit him, but much less than Agamemnon did. Menelaus's brother seemed more aggressive about this breakup scandal much more than Menelaus, the dumpee himself.

Menelaus wasn't taking it too well either though, entering a 'silent mad' state. He didn't speak to Helen (she avoided them anyway) and agreed with anything Agamemnon said or did.

The only thing Achilles was confused about was Clytemnestra and Penelope's involvement in the whole ordeal. They were Helen's closest friends and they definitively knew something about it. 

Achilles attempted to distract himself from that whole catastrophe and focus on Patroclus, who had been following him and Diomedes around, hoping to not be slaughtered by the others.

Achilles personally had never taken interest in the many girls who had asked him out and done all sorts of 'love acts' for him. But on Patroclus's first day and when he stuttered on the 'boys, girls, or both?' question, Achilles felt his heart skip a beat.

_Boy, girls, or both?_

Patroclus avoided the question. Achilles dreaded the answer. (or maybe dreaded his own reaction to it).

He didn't know how to re-ask the question; he would've never even thought about asking it if it wasn't for Clytemnestra that day so how could he even ask it now?

And wouldn't it be weird if _he_ asked it? Achilles felt himself overthinking this. Patroclus didn't even seem interested in the collection of girls that had begun fawning over him, not even at the small handful of the guys sending him winks in the hallways. \

No reaction. Achilles couldn't even observe and deduce. Maybe Patroclus was good at hiding his intentions, or maybe he didn't have any in the first place. Achilles hated this.

He hated high school drama. 

How on Earth did Odysseus thrive on this? (well, he was now paying for it, but nonetheless).

Achilles bit his lip. It was the beginning of the first week without Odysseus (who never missed a day of school in his life) and the school was on edge, they hoped to be filled in with his newsletter but he wasn't there to supervise it so;

"What do you mean there's no secret code?" Clytemnestra whined at lunch.

"Odysseus can't give us any information so we just had to put in actual school news, like the fact that we have a book club?" Penelope shrugged. "You can live a week without drama, especially now,"

Clytemnestra rolled her eyes and placed the boring newsletter on the cafeteria table." Ugh. Does anyone know if Odysseus has been murdered by his parents yet?"

"No idea. I think he's been double grounded by his parents so he can't even use his phone," Penelope sighed.

"Or have visitors," Achilles added.

"I'm going over nonetheless after school to provide him with some maths notes," Diomedes informed them. "Does anyone want me to pass over some information?"

"Tell him to think up of a revenge plan," Agamemnon sulked.

Clytemnestra stroked his arm, looking at him. "Love, don't start something up, you'll get hurt,"

"He already hurt us," he grimaced. 

"Paris should get a taste of his own medicine," Menelaus agreed.

"What about Hector? Would he help us?" Patroclus suggested slowly.

"Hector will have to side with Paris and his father," Penelope said. "Also the game is this Friday. I think everyone's busy training with that," 

"Everyone?" Patroclus frowned. "Who's on it?"

"Uh, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Achilles, Diomedes, Paris, Hector...oh shit," Clytemnestra realised. 

"The game's going to be a blood bath," Diomedes grinned, having a look of dread in his eyes.

"Agamemnon, you have to promise not to bash Paris in the middle of the game, we need to win this game," Clytemnestra pleaded to her boyfriend.

The bell went.

"Make sure to drop Helen when cheerleading," was all he said before leaving with Menelaus.

Clytemnestra blinked, remembering they were on the cheerleading team together. 

Achilles glanced at her; she didn't react and began to pack her things. He knew she knew something- otherwise, she'd be madder at Helen...at least something.

Finding himself walking down the corridors to his next class, Patroclus was beside him. "Hey, I didn't know you were on the football team,"

Achilles smiled. "I am the star player apparently,"

"I await in interest to watch you play," he grinned back.

"You could come and watch our practise on Thursday before the game?" Achilles offered, before realising what he did.

"Sure," Patroclus replied without missing a beat.

Achilles did. "Cool," 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should I make the gods and goddesses the teachers/professors?


	4. IV. Diomedes Tydeus Joins The Conspiracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> odysseus is grounded and gets a couple visitors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it seems like so long since ive written this chapter (i had to write it early coz i had exams literally today lmao...)

**I thought up of an epic high-school au headcanon for Odysseus's parents. Obviously not accurate to the original Greek Myths. Oh well. I live.**

**-**

Odysseus lay flat on his back on his bed. He despised being grounded. He had only _been_ grounded once before and it was when he was nine. Now he was a lot older, with a lot more responsibilities and he was mad at everything, most especially at himself.

He sat up quickly when he heard the front door open and a series of footsteps came into the house. _His sister was home from school._

Containing a groan, he pulled himself to his desk and took out his completed history homework, pretending to be working on it. If his parents figured out he'd spent all his day laying on his bed sulking, he'd have to do more chores in compensation. 

"Odysseus," the young voice of his sister lingered at his bedroom door.

"What is it?" he spun around on his chair and watched as his younger sister, Ctimene, stepped over multiple piles of books and loose papers on his floor and made her way to him.

"I made this for you!" she held out a picture frame covered in coloured beads, spaghetti and lots of dried glue. 

"Oh? For me?" Odysseus raised an eyebrow at the craft.

"Yes, mom said to make something for you since I broke your science project," she placed the frame into his lap.

He laughed. "You mean the science project from _two_ months ago?"

Ctimene rolled her eyes and made her way to the door. "And mom said to help her make dinner,"

"Alright," he sighed, watching her leave. His eyes flickered down to the frame in his lap. There was a photo inside, a family portrait. 

Before he could pick it up, he stood up in surprise when he saw Patroclus at his window. "What the hell?"

Patroclus shrugged and gestured to open the window for him.

Odysseus hurriedly shut his door and opened the window for Patroclus. "What are you doing here? If you get caught-"

"Isn't Diomedes coming?" 

"Yes," Odysseus frowned. "But he's been here before and know's how to hide,"

Patroclus waved his hand. "Right, anyway, I just decided to come before he did. I need help,"

"And so do we all," Odysseus kept his eyes on him as he picked up the frame that had fallen off his lap.

"What's that?" Patroclus laughed, referring to the frame.

"My sister made it," he explained. "What do you want?"

Patroclus looked at Odysseus. "Um, well Achilles invited me to watch his football practise on Thursday," 

Odysseus felt like grabbing his notebook to write notes but he instead kept his fingers occupied by fiddling with the loose glue on the picture frame. "Right?"

Patroclus went red. "Um, well, I dunno if you're the best person to tell but I think he likes him. Like...you know,"

"Gay?" Odysseus raised his eyebrow.

"Huh?" Patroclus felt slightly taken aback by Odysseus's calm way of saying The Word. 

"You mean, gay, right?" Odysseus grinned. Maybe his conspiracy was right. He put the picture frame into Patroclus's hands. "Meet Anticlea, my mother, and Daphne, my other mother,"

"Other?"

"They're gay, Pat," Odysseus rolled his eyes. "Boy, girls, or both?" he asked, quoting Helen. When Patroclus seemed to busy inspecting the picture frame he sighed. "If Achilles did, in fact, fancy you, what would your course of action be?"

"Uh," Patroclus looked up. "I... don't know? I mean, he's my friend, and I don't know if my dad-"

"Ew, is he homophobic?" Odysseus made a face. 

"Um, I'm pretty sure," he nodded. Odysseus took note of his comfortability. 

He sighed. "I'm sorry. That sucks. My dad disappeared because he couldn't handle the fact my mom moved on with another girl,"

"Your dad?" Patroclus frowned.

Odysseus laughed. "Right, you're new. There's a lot you don't know about me,"

"I know Circe was your ex," Patroclus nodded with amusement. "Apart from that fact the school practically worships your information, I know nothing," 

Odysseus glanced down and went beside Patroclus. "That's me but like two years younger," he pointed to the much smaller redhead in the picture frame. "That's my sister, Ctimene. She's now in like, year 3. Or four, I can't remember,"

"You can't remember?"

"You'd understand if you have a younger sibling," he ignored Patroclus amusement. "That's my original mother, Anticlea. She married my dad but they divorced when I was like, a year old,"

"Dam, that sucks," 

"Yeah. I barely remember him since he left completely when my mom married Daphne," Odysseus shrugged. "Then they had Ctimene,"

"Interesting," Patroclus nodded. "My dad raised me alone," 

Odysseus glanced back at him. "Oh. So you don't even have another parent to fall back on?"

"Not at all. And my dad would probably disown me if I ever got with a guy," Patroclus sighed.

Odysseus thought for a moment. "Well, he knows Achilles..."

"That probably makes it worse," he sighed. "It's fine. I can deal with him, it's more, what on Earth I'm supposed to do with Achilles,"

"Do you know if he does like you, to begin with," 

Patroclus shook his head. "No, but all sorts of things make me suspect,"

Odysseus tapped on the table. "I think you should wait until Thursday. See how he acts at Practise. You've only been here a week, it might be easier to deduce more without the whole school watching you," 

"That's probably a good idea," Patroclus nodded.

The two of them jumped when another tap came on the window. It was Diomedes.

"You should leave," Odysseus said as he opened the window.

"Yeah," Patroclus got up.

"What are you doing here?" Diomedes frowned.

"Can't I hang out with my friends?" Odysseus joked.

"I'll see you guys later," Patroclus smiled, exiting the room. Odysseus closed the window.

"Here are the notes from today," Diomedes chucked a thin pile of papers onto the bed. "Why was he here?" 

"Conspiracy stuff," Odysseus shook his head, lying onto his bed.

"What conspiracy stuff?" Diomedes frowned.

First of all, Diomedes had been Odysseus friend since their 7th grade. It wasn't anything to brag about, most of the group had been. By for some reason Odysseus had picked Diomedes to be the person to tell some of his 'conspiracies' to. 

This led Diomedes to be the second person in the school that drama-led students liked to pester for information. He didn't _actually_ have any proper information from the conspiracies, just thoughts from Odysseus. (And most of his thoughts didn't make sense). 

"Uh, the Patroclus and Achilles stuff,"

"What Patroclus and Achilles stuff?"

"...Did I tell you?" Odysseus paused.

"Don't think so," Diomedes rolled his eyes. "Forgetting things now?"

"Just distracted," Odysseus mumbled. 

"So, what Achilles and Patroclus stuff?"

Odysseus crossed his arms and look at his dark-haired friend. "I dunno. My conspiracy was that they liked each other. I was partially right,"

"Partially? Wait, is Achilles 'not-straight'?" Diomedes frowned.

"Um, I don't know," Odysseus reached over his desk and grabbed his notebook, beginning to write things into it. "Patroclus seems to think Achilles may like him,"

"And Pat?"

"He isn't sure about what to do if he does," Odysseus replied. "It's all still conspiracy and no truth yet,"

"Did you tell him about your moms?" Diomedes asked, picking up the picture frame on the bed. 

"Yeah," Odysseus said slowly. He figured he wouldn't tell Diomedes about his father. "I don't know, just to assure him about things. He seemed pretty surprised I said 'gay' so freely,"

Diomedes looked at the picture. "This is old. Look at tiny Odysseus," he teased.

Odysseus rolled his eyes. "Of course it's old. When was the last time your family took a picture?"

Diomedes sighed. "The school misses you,"

"Me or my newsletter?" Odysseus said, putting the picture frame on his desk. 

Diomedes frowned at his friend. "You, of course,"

"Right," 

"I'm serious," Diomedes nodded. "Maths was boring without you,"

"I'm glad someone misses me," Odysseus began but fell silent when a voice came from outside his room;

"Odysseus! Come and help me with food," 

"It's my mom," Odysseus sighed. "I need to go," 

"I will come back tomorrow," Diomedes assured. 

"Alright, see you later," 

When Diomedes left, he let out a sigh. Upon entering he had almost thought that Patroclus was there for some other reason. But when hearing Odysseus's reasoning he grinned. It would be interesting to see Patroclus and Achilles become a thing- if they ever did. 

He almost wished he could've seen Patroclus's face when Odysseus told him about his moms. It was always funny to see people's surprised reactions, whether they be positive or negative.

It reminded him of his own embarrassing reaction when he was 12 in 7th grade. He had barely known about the concept 'homosexual' before, so when the small Odysseus went red and explained it to him, Diomedes blinked a few times before realising.

Realising that the mental breakdowns and multiple dilemmas he had last year- were related to this 'homosexuality' that Odysseus was speaking of. 

Diomedes didn't even know Odysseus then (he had just met him) but he still asked; "Are you homosexual?"

"It's easier to just say 'gay'- and no, I'm not," Odysseus had replied. 

It was only until about a year later on the 'oh shit I might be 'not-straight'' anniversary of this event that Diomedes realised how stupid he was back then- asking Odysseus that. He didn't even know what Odysseus thought of that event because he never asked about it.

And it was on that 'oh shit I might be 'not-straight'' anniversary that Diomedes realised that he _liked_ the feisty redhead. 

And three years later Diomedes was still cringing at his 12-year-old self and his current self for _still having a fucking crush on Odysseus Laertes_.

He was reminded of this stupidity every day, every class and every time he entered the Autolycus household (After Mr Laertes left, Anticlea and Daphne took Anticlea's last name; Autolycus. Odysseus is the only one with the Laertes last name). 

Every time he entered Odysseus's bedroom he saw little signs of pride flags everywhere ("My moms have way too many" Odysseus always complains) and every time his brain hopes that _maybe,_ just _maybe_ Odysseus was 'not-straight'. 

**~**

Odysseus washed his hands, feeling tired. Sure, he spent all day laying about doing nothing but for some reason he just wanted to sleep. After cooking dinner with Anticlea he was just longing for his bed. 

"Hey!" 

He turned around, surprised to hear Daphne's voice this early; "Mom?" he called, stepping into the hallway.

"How's our grounded son doing?" she hugged him, still in her nursing uniform. 

"Um, alright?" he said. "Why are you home early?" 

"Uh," she looked down at him. "Just to spend more time with you and Ctimene," 

Odysseus frowned, glancing at Anticlea. "Alright. We made dinner,"

"Of course you did," Daphne grinned. "I'm going to take a quick shower and I'll see you at the dinner table." she gave Anticlea a quick kiss before disappearing into the bathroom.

"Why is she really home early?" Odysseus looked at his other mother. 

Anticlea looked at him with a confused look. "What do you mean? You heard her,"

"Yeah, but she never finds time to come home early," Odysseus pestered. "Ever. Why now? It's not even a special occasion,"

Anticlea paused and sighed. "Alright, we can't lie to you," she looked at him. "you're too smart. We need to have a talk with you after dinner. But don't worry about that, alright? Let's just enjoy dinner," 

Odysseus was completely caught off guard. He was left alone in the hallway, his brain going through every bad thing he had done recently. Was about him getting suspended? It couldn't, as they _already_ had a talk about that when they grounded him. 

He tried to think- maybe they found one of his notebooks, or maybe Paris told them about the notebooks. Maybe they found out about the coding in the newsletter-

"Odysseus! Mom said to help set the table! Is Mitera really here?" Ctimene called from the kitchen. 

Odysseus walked himself into the kitchen. Like his mom said; _Don't worry about it yet_. "Yeah, she's in the shower," he told his sister, grabbing some plates. 

All throughout dinner he was distracted. He was a good student and rarely got in trouble at home. What sort of thing would they want to talk to him about? Maybe it was irrelevant...they had _already_ given him 'the talk' back in 5th grade...Odysseus spent all dinner distracted.

"Odysseus? What did you do at school today?" Daphne asked.

"Homework," he said, coming back to the real world. 

"Anything else?" Ctimene frowned. "Normal kids do much more fun things when suspended. I heard that Paola went to Disney World when he was suspended,"

"Paola is like, four," Odysseus said.

"No, he's my age,"

"Exactly, four years old," he teased.

Before Ctimene could retaliate Daphne stopped her. "Are you finished?"

"Yes," Ctimene stuck her tongue out at Odysseus. 

"Do you want dessert?" 

"Dessert? On a school night?"

"Isn't it a treat? Since Mitera is home early?" Anticlea smiled. 

"And you can go into the living room, we'll join you in a minute," Daphne watched as Ctimene ran to the fridge to get ice-cream.

Odysseus frowned. It was clearly a tactic to get Ctimene out of the room so they could talk to him about whatever crime he had committed.

Once Ctimene had disappeared, Odysseus stared back at his parents. "What did I do wrong?" he finally said.

"Nothing," Anticlea tried to smile. "We just needed to tell you something important,"

"Are you getting divorced?" the thought suddenly struck Odysseus and he accidentally blurted it out.

"What?" Daphne almost laughed. "Of course not. This is about you,"

That didn't make Odysseus feel better.

"A few weeks ago we came across a certain...claim and we had to take some time to make sure it was true and all the legal stuff," Anticlea began.

"Legal stuff?" Odysseus tried to think up of all the possible situations it could be. Anticlea was a lawyer, maybe it was a coincidence-

"Odysseus," 

He almost flinched when he realised Daphne placed a hand onto his own, which was shaking. 

"Just, listen, give us a second and we'll tell you," 

"We'll just say it," Anticlea began, taking a deep breath. "You're adopted,"

Odysseus took a moment to process this. "Adopted?" he exclaimed, standing up.

"Yes, sit down," Daphne nodded.

He didn't sit down. "But-t I thought-" he looked at Anticlea.

She sighed. "Your father and I adopted you from birth,"

Odysseus almost forgot where he was as his brain tried to think this through. He knew Ctimene was adopted, _she knew_ she was adopted, she came after their moms got married. _He_ was supposed to be the child from the heterosexual marriage. But apparently not.

"Wait- but why now?" he found himself saying.

"What do you mean?" Daphne frowned.

"Why are you telling me now? You said you found out a few weeks ago?" 

"No," Daphne shook her head. "Your real biological father reached out to us. He wants to see you,"

"What?" Odysseus got more confused. He sat down since he was shaking too much. 

"Look, if you don't want to see him, that's one hundred per cent your choice. We figured we just had to tell you everything," Anticlea said.

There was some silence before; "Who is he then?" 

"He's named Sisyphus," Daphne began. "He's had a brief criminal past and stuff but he seems like a good man,"

He was still trembling. "Where you ever going to tell me...if he never contacted you?" he whispered.

"We were going to, nearing to your sixteenth birthday," Anticlea answered. 

Odysseus shook his head and left. He didn't know why he left, he could've stayed and interrogated his parents with more questions, with more accusations, but he didn't. 

Instead, he collapsed onto his bed after chucking everyone on it onto the floor. He was almost mad at them for telling him this _now,_ in the most inconvenient week with all the Paris dilemma. But they couldn't have known. 

He let out a sighed and buried his head into his pillow. Maybe if he fell asleep and woke up he would forget everything and live in peace. 

Instead, he found a knock on his door.

"What?" he groaned in response. He didn't lookup. 

"Hey, darling," It was Daphne. 

"What is it Mitera?" Odysseus said in a muffled voice. 

He heard her sit down at his desk. "I know it's a lot to take in," 

"Go figure," 

"Don't be sarcastic," she sighed. "You've not grounded anymore. Sleep well," 

Odysseus waited until she left the room and turned around. He found his phone and a folder on his desk that hadn't been there before. He sat up and turned his lamp, grabbing the folder. 

After skimming the contents, he realised it was everything on his father. His real father. Not his coward father who literally no longer had any connection with him at all apart from briefly been married to his mom. 

Closing the folder and grabbing his phone, he inspected the time. 9 pm. It was early. But he was tired. He ignored the 43 unread messages and closed his eyes. 

**-**

**Mitera is 'mother'/'mom' in greek.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment whatever !! honestly i love hearing ur comments aha


	5. V. Unresolved Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a kiss O_O

Wednesday wasn't entertaining. Clytemnestra had to physically hold back Agamemnon from slaughtering Paris in gym class. 

Patroclus wanted to fall asleep in Geography but he managed to stay awake and daydream about what could happen on Thursday.

A lot, apparently. Much more than what Patroclus ever thought up of. 

"Ungrounded? Does that mean you can come back to school?" Clytemnestra began.

"No, silly, he's still suspended," Penelope told her sister off.

Odysseus nodded, gripping his fingers around his pen. They were outside an ice-cream store after school. It was Thursday that was why only Odysseus was male in the group with Penelope and Clytemnestra.

They got into Clytemnestra's car; they were making their way to the field to watch the other at football practice. "Why did they change their mind?" Penelope asked.

Odysseus glanced at her. "I don't know. I guess I'm just such a good son," he forced a joke, but his mouth felt empty after saying 'son'. 

"My parents would sue me if I got suspended," Clytemnestra stated. "I could never get off the hook," 

"It's only tomorrow left though, so it shouldn't be too bad," Penelope shrugged. "You surprisingly didn't miss much," 

"Apart from Agamemnon going crazy every time he sees Paris," Clytemnestra sighed. "He's so much angrier than Menelaus,"

"Yeah, it is a bit odd," Penelope agreed. She looked at Odysseus. "So, how was being grounded?"

"Alright," Odysseus smiled. "Diomedes and Patroclus visited once or twice," 

"I'm assuming they didn't get caught?"

"Nope," Odysseus shook his head. Why had he decided to hang out with his friends at this time? A distraction, probably. Also because he wanted to see if he could inspect the Patroclus and Achilles ordeal first hand. 

For Patroclus, he almost forgot being worried. The moment he joined the football team (despite the tension between Agamemnon, Menelaus and Paris) he felt really comfortable. 

Also despite the coach, Coach Ares, who was a little loud and strict, Patroclus had managed to sit on the bleachers and watch Achilles practise.

He had realised that this whole 'come watch me practise' thing was certainly a bit odd since all he _was_ doing was _watching Achilles._ Patroclus didn't know whether to think more about that.

During a short five-minute pause, Achilles walked over, taking a drink from his bottle. "How are you finding it?"

"Well, I think you guys play a lot better than my team at my old school," Patroclus noted.

"You used to play?"

"Yeah, but we weren't nearly as good as you guys. Dad was always disappointed," Patroclus nodded. He smirked. "By the way, I can see why you're the star player," he didn't know why he had said that but when he did he noticed Achilles go red (or maybe it was just his already red cheeks from running around).

"I'm sure you can be a good match for me though. We should play one day," Achilles smiled, before jogging back to join the team.

Patroclus didn't know what to make of this at all. He didn't even know what any of it meant. 

As Achilles rejoined the team, he frowned at the glares Agamemnon was giving Paris. Paris, on the other hand, kept signalling at Menelaus and pointing to Helen, who was sitting by herself on the bleachers. 

"What a jerk," Diomedes stated, panting from the training. "Literally all why Paris is dating Helen is because he can flex it on us. I wonder why she even is dating him, it's so disgustingly obvious,"

Achilles opened his mouth to say that Clytemnestra and Penelope may know, due to their suspicious behaviour, but he was interrupted by Coach Ares loud orders to keep on training. 

_Oh well._ He figured. He spotted Clytemnestra and Penelope arrive from the corner of his eyes- and Odysseus? Wasn't he grounded?

He didn't have time to think as he was back into the practice game.

"Did you see Odysseus?" Diomedes whispered to him a bit later while playing.

"Yeah," Achilles managed to say before tackling one of the other players. Getting the ball, he passed it over to someone else. "Maybe he's been un-grounded,"

"Yeah..." Diomedes lingered a bit longer, keeping his eyes on Odysseus as he walked with Clytemnestra and Penelope onto the bleachers. 

"STOP IT YOU LOT!" Diomedes turned his attention to the middle of the field where Agamemnon was being pulled off Paris. Coach Ares had passed some tissues to Paris, who had a slight blood nose.

"It was an accident," Hector began but was cut off. 

"Have a ten-minute break," Coach Ares sighed, exasperated. 

Diomedes and Achilles made their way over to where Clytemnestra, Penelope and Odysseus were. Patroclus had seemed to have joined them as well. "

"Hey! Weren't you grounded?" Diomedes said, looking at Odysseus.

"Yeah, I was but I was ungrounded," Odysseus nodded.

"For reasons unknown," Penelope added with a grin.

"What did Agamemnon do? I couldn't see it," Patroclus asked, glancing over at where Menelaus and Agamemnon were arguing over something.

"I'm not too sure, I was distracted," Diomedes began.

"Distracted with what?" Clytemnestra interrupted but Achilles replied.

"I think Agamemnon tackled Paris a little too hard," Achilles explained.

"That's stupid," Odysseus said. "He'll just get in trouble. Paris is practically untouchable, even worse now,"

"Yeah. We really need you to figure out a plan. School's been terrible with Paris strutting around like he owns the place," Penelope nodded.

Odysseus sighed. "Yeah, I've been thinking about all sorts of plans. I'll probably need more time to make it perfect," He was about to add something when his phone rang. "Hold on," 

He stepped to the side to answer it, although he paused when he saw the caller ID.

_Helen Tyndareus._

Odysseus quickly glanced at Helen who was no longer on the bleachers. "Hello?" 

_"Odysseus, I thought you were grounded,"_ her voice came from his phone.

"I was. I've been un-grounded," Odysseus said.

_"Anyway, haven't you checked your messages yet?"_

"No," Odysseus sighed. He had been too distracted.

" _Well, if you open them you'll see why I'm mad at you,"_

"Wait, you're mad at me?" Odysseus frowned.

 _"Yes, Odysseus! You promised not to tell Paris that you knew about his plan! I managed to convince him to not compromise us yet but you still told him!"_ her voice came harsh through his phone.

"I'm sorry, I had a plan but he threw me off," Odysseus began to try and say.

_"Yeah, he threw you off because you're crushing on my cousin. Yeah, he told me, Odysseus,"_

Odysseus's heart sank- now the only people who knew were Clytemnestra, Helen and Paris. Probably the three people he _didn't_ want to know about it. "I promise I'm really sorry Helen,"

_"It's hard to forgive you right now. I am losing friends because I can't tell them the truth and you nearly ruined everything,"_

Before Odysseus was able to try and defend himself, she hung up. He stated at his blank phone screen and felt his heart racing again. 

Turning back to the group, Clytemnestra began speaking. "Penelope and I are gonna hit the bathrooms," the two girls made their way into the school building.

Achilles frowned after them. Could they possibly be going in to meet with Helen? They definitively knew something that they didn't. His pondering made him not realise Patroclus was talking to him. 

"Sorry?"

Patroclus gave him a confused grin. "I asked, do you think Agamemnon should fight Paris?"

Achilles looked at him. "Oh, uh well I think if anyone was to fight him it'd be Menelaus but he's too much of a coward. I think fighting probably isn't the answer,"

"Yeah. I knew two people from my old school who got hospitalised from a fight," Patroclus nodded.

"Hey, Odysseus, wanna help me take some of this equipment back inside?" Diomedes asked, picking up a bag of footballs. 

"Sure," Odysseus put away his pen and notebook and lifted a box of cones and such. "We'll be right back," he told Achilles and Patroclus and left.

Achilles turned towards Patroclus. "So,"

"So," Patroclus grinned. "You're a good player,"

"I guess," Achilles picked up his bag. "My dad makes me play, but I don't mind it,"

"You could really go somewhere with those skills," Patroclus insisted. "Unless you don't like doing it," he added.

Achilles shrugged. "I don't know. I like music, though,"

"Music?" Patroclus was almost surprised, but he remembered when they were young where Achilles liked to play the guitar, as bad as he may have been then.

"Yes," Achilles then turned around to him. "Hey, do you want to come over? I have a song that I've been writing,"

"Oh," Patroclus looked surprised. "Sure," he began to follow Achilles to his car. "I didn't know you wrote music,"

"I do," Achilles said. "Just some here and there,"

The car ride to Achilles home was calm. Patroclus was sweating with anticipation of what could or might happen, based on his thoughts. Did Achilles like him? Or was it just the wish and imagination of a hopeless romantic? 

They spoke about what they did in the years apart. Even though nothing that Patroclus had to say matched up to the accomplishments of Achilles', he still listened in admiration. 

Perhaps Achilles _didn't_ fancy the fair headed boy, but Patroclus certainly felt himself hoping he did.

Once they arrived to Achilles' home, Patroclus remembered it instantly. 

"My parent's are at work so we have the place to ourselves. Probably for the best as they always complain about the noise when I practise," Achilles smirked, leading him in.

Patroclus recognised the familiar atmosphere, the scented candles Achilles' mom liked and the weird wall hangings his dad had. 

"No, my room's down here," Achilles told Patroclus, who had began to make his way down a hallway. "I got the study a few years ago since it was bigger," 

"Oh, that's nice. That other room was pretty small," 

Patroclus was certainly impressed by Achilles' new room. It was neat and clean, quite the opposite of Patroclus and his own shabby room. 

"Here," Achilles said, reminding him why they were there. He picked up a ukulele.

"You play a ukulele?" 

"Don't laugh," Achilles frowned, sitting on the bed. "I like how it sounds," He began plucking some strings to check if it was in tune.

"So...what's the song about?" Patroclus asked, watching Achilles' fingers fiddling with the tuning pegs. 

"What song?"

"The one you wrote that you want to show me?" Patroclus blinked. 

"Oh right," Achilles bent over and got some loose paper from the under the bed which had music notes and lyrics scribbled all over. "It's called 'When you came,'"

"It's a love song?" Patroclus couldn't help but break into a smile.

Achilles set up the papers with a smirk on his face. "So what? Ninety-nine per cent of songs out there are," 

"No judge," Patroclus said, with a little flutter of hidden and small hope that it was about him.

"Alright," Achilles began to play. And Patroclus remembered the beauty of music. It was better than anything he could play, better than most things he'd heard. 

The lyrics stumbled a bit, but the mistakes were hidden by Achilles' soft voice, who was still yet to get used to singing, but nonetheless drawing Patroclus in. 

Patroclus caught some lyrics, containing things along the lines of a lover who came into his life, assuming the point of view was of Achilles. 

Then it stopped. 

The silence seemed very contrasting against the music that had filled the air only moments ago. "It was beautiful," Patroclus mindlessly said.

"You're just saying that," Achilles chuckled, putting down the ukulele. 

"I promise, it was one of the most amazing songs I've ever heard," 

And Patroclus wasn't lying.

**_~~_ **

Odysseus put down the box and looked at Diomedes. "We just leave it here?"

"Yeah," Diomedes nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. "So," they began to make their way back to the oval, walking through the corridors. "You really don't know why you got un-grounded?"

Odysseus kept the silence short. "Nope," he gave Diomedes a small grin. 

Diomedes bit his lip. "That's pretty cool. Would you be able to come to the game tomorrow then?"

"I'm not sure, since it's during school and I'm still suspended. I could possibly sneak in," Odysseus shrugged. 

"Please do, we need you to win," Diomedes laughed.

"You really don't," 

"It's not an Ilios High game without you criticizing the players every three seconds," 

Odysseus laughed and Diomedes felt his lungs almost give up. "You really think I'm essential to the year level?" Odysseus asked lightheartedly.

"Of course!" Diomedes paused. Odysseus stopped walking, frowning at his friend. "And even you're not, you're essential to me," Diomedes didn't know what he was doing, but his heart was racing and he almost couldn't make out what Odysseus was saying.

Odysseus went flustered. "Oh, thank you. I guess that would be enough. Quality over quantity, right?"

"Right," Diomedes nodded. And then he didn't know what possessed him after that. Perhaps his deep thoughts from after his visit on Tuesday had invaded his common sense but Diomedes stepped forward towards his friend, placing his face closer to Odysseus's than ever before.

He didn't kiss him, no, his mind stopped him just before he could've, but maybe that was worse because now Diomedes and Odysseus's faces were only centimetres apart.

"W-what?" Odysseus found himself saying, almost stepping back but he didn't.

And maybe it's because he didn't step back that Diomedes's mind decided to finish the mission and so he closed the gap; feeling Odysseus's lips for the first time since he wanted to.

The kiss lasted only a few seconds before Odysseus pulled away, his arms suddenly clinging on Diomedes's. Diomedes didn't know whether Odysseus had kissed back but it felt nice, and he was pretty sure Odysseus _had_ kissed back.

But what happened next made Diomedes doubt if he did kiss back; because Odysseus fainted. 

"Odysseus?" Diomedes almost choked out, extremely confused and slightly disorientated. He knelt down beside him. "Hey? Hello?" He quickly checked his pulse (it was fine).

"Diomedes?" he turned to find Clytemnestra and Penelope walking towards him. "Is that Odysseus?" 

"Happened?" Penelope exclaimed. "Is he alright?"

Diomedes felt that his face was very red. "Um, yeah, I don't know what happened, he just-"

"Odysseus?" Clytemnestra placed her hand onto his cheek. "Wake up?"

Penelope frowned. "Was he stressed? Or surprised?"

Diomedes stared at her. Should he tell her? But before he could answer, Odysseus woke up. "Hey! You're alive,"

Odysseus coughed a bit, still disoriented.

"Odysseus? You passed out," Clytemnestra explained.

Odysseus rubbed his head. "Yeah, I feel really lightheaded,"

"Do you remember what happened?" Penelope asked.

Odysseus realised she was there and went red (he was mostly already blushing anyway). "Uh," his eyes glanced past Diomedes. "No, not really,"

"Do you feel alright? I can drive you home," Clytemnestra help him sit properly.

"No, let me call my mom," Odysseus shook his head, reaching for his phone. "I'll be fine," 

"Okay," 

Diomedes was basically traumatised, he stared blankly at nothing. _That went horribly._

**\---**

Odysseus sat on the floor of the bathtub, the water from the showerhead above him hitting his back aimlessly. He had been in the bathroom for half an hour already, thinking about everything that had happened in the week;

This whole ordeal with Paris and Helen, his notebook and a whole bunch of secrets in the hands of Paris, Agamemnon ready to strike, Helen _mad_ at him, somehow being _adopted_ , and now one of his closest friends had just _kissed_ him. 

This week went downhill fast...all after Patroclus arrived. He almost laughed as he remembered the previous week where he was worried about the chaos a new kid could bring, and now Patroclus was the _least_ of his problems. In fact, the whole Patroclus and Achilles conspiracy was the only thing _normal_ about his life right now.

He thought about if Achilles did actually like Patroclus, and if Patroclus liked him back. Would Patroclus get disowned? He thought about Patroclus's alleged possibly homophobic father, and he tried to imagine only having one parent...

His thoughts trailed back to his family. He tried to count how many parents he now had; two moms, one dad he _thought_ was his biological father, and now apparently he had another father. Which meant he had a whole other mother. 

That totalled up to three mothers and two fathers. He frowned at this ridiculous revelation. He still hadn't properly thought about the whole 'being adopted' thing. He had barely even opened the folder his parents gave him. 

Slowly turning off the tap and drying himself off he kept on thinking; this meant his mom and ex-dad adopted him almost immediately after getting married only to divorce around a year later. This meant his ex-dad had chosen to marry his mother, adopt him (which he figured wasn't an easy business) and then decided to leave them only a year later.

He had never felt so mad at a person before. He had always been salty to his ex-father but this was different. He had decided to just call him his 'ex-father' since he was only his adoptive father for only a matter of months. 

For a brief moment, he thought about changing his name to match his moms and Ctimene's but the thought left as quickly as it came. He was Odysseus Laertes. 

_Was he?_

He paused, looking into the mirror in front of him, half-dressed. Who even was he? He didn't know Sisyphus's last name, he had the last name of his ex-father and his whole family had a different last name. 

He didn't even look like any of them. He had always figured he'd gotten his out of place red hair from his father but looking at the pictures, he couldn't have. So he figured a long time ago that it must've skipped a generation.

Now, he figured, he got all of them from his mystery parents. What did they look like? (Pictures are probably in the folder, he thought). 

Getting a little excited to find out what his real parents were like, he entered his room and got the folder. Entering the nervous stage, he took a deep breath before opening the thing.

The excitement turned to nervousness soon fell into concern and disappointment. He spent the next few minutes pouring over the files that his moms, probably Anticlea, had gathered.

_Put in jail thrice for petty crimes._

_Probably committed more._

_Divorced twice._

_Had four recorded children, two from the first marriage, one from the second and one from an ex-girlfriend._

Odysseus blinked at the folder that once looked like it contained a lot of information, realising he _needed_ more. 

Was he one of the four children? If so, who was his mother? Was it possible he had step-siblings? 

He felt a headache coming. Trying to think of the pros to the whole situation, he figured he was at least _wanted_. 

_Was he?_

His ex-father left...so he couldn't possibly have mattered that much to him. His mom, Anticlea had kept him so that must mean something. Or what if she only kept him because his ex-father didn't want him?

He figured he should ask her, but he couldn't be bothered to go to their room. Ctimene had it easy, he sighed, she knew she was adopted the moment she could understand basic concepts. She learned that having two moms wasn't the norm and understood her family situation, even though she was only in year three. Or four (he couldn't remember).

 _He_ thought he knew his family situation, having a hard time learning about his ex-dad, whom he didn't even remember as for all he could remember he had Daphne as his second parent. He came to terms with it all at about the same age Ctimene was, figuring everything out.

And now, at the ripe age of almost-sixteen, he was questioning everything from his identity, importance and family. He had a criminal as a biological father. He didn't even know who his biological mother was yet. His ex-father was no one that mattered and his moms didn't tell him he was adopted until now. 

Trying to remember his childhood, he remembered telling off classmates who teased him about possibly being adopted due to having two moms. Now, little did they know they were right but for the wrong reasons; he _was_ adopted, but under a heterosexual couple, not his moms. 

It was heterosexual couples that were messing his life up now, he realised with a hint of amusement in his thoughts. Paris and Helen and Menelaus all caught up in a love triangle, almost as ironic as a highschool movie plot and this whole thing with his ex-father and biological one. 

This thought led him immediately to Diomedes. _Diomedes._

He tried to remember if he had seen or felt any signs of him doing anything _slightly_ not-straight. Diomedes was a football player, he had both the girls and boys behind him, along with Achilles and Hector and the other players. 

Sure, he was _hot,_ Odysseus could agree, but he had never seen any sign of Diomedes leading _anyone_ at school. Odysseus was always too investing in other people's dramas rather than looking at his friend's. All of Diomedes's relationships had somehow slipped underneath Odysseus's radar. 

He thought hard about if he had seen Diomedes act oddly towards _him_ in particular, seeing as it was Odysseus that he had kissed. After a while of thinking, he decided he was ultimately blind when it came to anything regarding him. (He couldn't even deal with the whole Penelope ordeal).

_Penelope._

Odysseus sighed. What was he going to do with Penelope? What was he going to do with Diomedes? He knew he liked Penelope, taking away the doubt of her abilities to compare with Clytemnestra's strong judgemental persona. He knew he liked Diomedes, as a friend, but he hadn't ever thought of him as anything other than a friend so he hadn't yet given Diomedes a fair chance.

He'd known both of them the same amount of time, in 7th grade. He remembered their meetings very clearly. He knew his heart skipped a beat when seeing Penelope's beauty. He didn't think much of it then. He knew his heart skipped a beat when he saw Diomedes's strong personality and demure. That was probably why he had befriended him in the first place. 

Sighing, he knew none of his problems would be fixed that night, nor with just him pondering over them endlessly. 

Giving up, he left his bedroom and entered the living room. It was 9 pm, and his mom was probably putting Ctimene to bed.

As expected, he found Daphne on the couch. She'd just back home from work and was still in her nurses uniform. 

"Mitera?" he mumbled, making his presence known.

"Oh, hey," she smiled, turning around. "Didn't you have homework?"

He shook his head, sitting on the couch. His mind was swirling with questions, unsure of which ones to ask first. He decided to tackle the Diomedes issue first. He would probably see him the next day at the big game if Odysseus managed to sneak into the school. Maybe he could just...not sneak in and avoid Diomedes until Monday.

"Darling? What's wrong?" Daphne's voice disrupted Odysseus thoughts.

He looked up at her. "Diomedes kissed me after school," he blurted out, going red for reasons unknown. 

"Diomedes? The one on the football team?" she put her laptop down.

"All my male friends are on the football team," he rolled his eyes. "Diomedes Tydeus. The one who helped with Ctimene's birthday last year," 

"Oh yes," Daphne remembered. She snuck a smile. "Kissed you, huh?"

Odysseus didn't match her smile. She 'oh-ed'. "And I passed out,"

"Passed out?" Daphne looked taken aback. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I think that...added onto everything that happened this week just startled me," he said. "I just...don't know what to do,"

Daphne sat closer to him. "Have you spoken to him yet?"

"No. I passed out and called mom to get me right after," 

"I recall," Daphne nodded. "You should speak to him. Whenever you're unsure," 

Odysseus nodded, realising most of _his_ advice to other students in dispair was just that; _talk to them._ "I guess. I will. Tomorrow," he decided. "Also," he found himself saying. "I want to meet...Sysiphus,"

Daphne paused for a bit but nodded. "Alright. I can give him a call tomorrow to organise it. Are you sure?" 

"Yes," Odysseus nodded, even though many doubts crossed his mind. 

"Okay. But honey, remember that you're safe and loved here, okay?" she held his hand.

He nodded, twitching his fingers. "I guess," he muttered. "I mean, I do. I know," he stuttered, getting flustered. "I'm just confused," 

Daphne nodded, pulling him into an awkward sideways hug on the couch. "It usually is. But your mom and I love you, that's all you need to understand,"

Odysseus returned the hug and stood up, adjusting his glasses. "Thank you," he swallowed. "For the advice...and everything else," _And for wanting me,_ he wanted to say but he didn't know if that was true yet. All stupid doubt blocked the common sense but he shook it all out of his mind. "Goodnight," 

On the way back to his bedroom he spotted the dim light coming from underneath Ctimene's room, where he knew Anticlea was. _Did she know about his dilemma? Did his moms tell her?_

He released none of his friends knew ( _of course they don't, he never told them)._ Maybe he would tell them tomorrow. Before or after he confronted Diomedes, he didn't know. What he did know was that he was tired.


	6. VI. Where Is Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> confrontations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd just like to make a note that i am not adopted and neither do i know anyone personally who is adopted. these depictions are all based on what research I've done and things i figure people of Odysseus's age would think about and have problems with. if i have gotten anything wrong and if you, someone who knows better than me, think there's something I could change or fix i'd appreciate any criticism. thank you.

**\---**

Odysseus was excellent at confrontation. He had done so on many occasions but now, when it was _about_ him, he wanted to run off and ignore every problem he had.

But he knew that wasn't possible. That was why he was standing outside the school. It was the last day of being suspended and he couldn't be bothered to sneak into the game so he waited until it was over. 

As estimated, the school doors opened and the streets became flooded with students as the week ended.

Odysseus overheard some people talking about the game and he determined that they had won. Pleased that at least that was going for him, he kept his eye out for his friends. 

_And there they were,_ he spotted them loitering near the building, waiting for someone perhaps. Odysseus made his way there. 

"Odysseus! Hey!" Penelope smiled. 

Odysseus spotted Diomedes but he kept his eyes on the others. "Hey," He smiled, keeping his sweaty palms in his pockets. "How was the game?"

"Excellent," Menelaus grinned. "We won by a mile,"

"Thanks to Achilles," Patroclus agreed. "He scored more than half the points,"

"And I the other half," Agamemnon added in a huff.

Odysseus nodded before forcing himself to face Diomedes. "Can I speak to you for a second?" 

"Ooooh," Clytemnestra winked, and for a moment Odysseus wondered if Diomedes had told her- then he wondered about who even _knew_ about what happened. He passed out- so he didn't know. "What have you done now, Dio?" she laughed.

 _Phew,_ Odysseus figured she didn't know. 

Stepping to the side, Odysseus could tell Diomedes was upset and distraught. "Um," he began but was prompt cut off.

"I'm really sorry about that- I didn't know what I was doing and-" Diomedes spoke really fast, waving his hands about but he couldn't continue because shouts came from the group.

Diomedes and Odysseus turned to face what was going on; Agamemnon had apparently punched Hector.

"Hey! Stop it, Agamemnon!" Clytemnestra exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock. "You'll get in trouble,"

"Stop it," Achilles also tried to stop the two, who had begun wrestling each other on the ground.

"Why...are you...picking on me!" Hector grimaced with his back on the floor and Agamemnon on top of him. He was met with another punch.

Odysseus snapped out of his trance and stepped forward, helping Achilles try to pull the latter of Hector. "This isn't helping," 

"Agamemnon-" Menelaus tried to say but he didn't hear him.

"You traitor, where's your slimy brother," Agamemnon said harshly.

"I have no idea where my brother is!" 

Odysseus managed to step in between the two, but it didn't stop their squabbling. "You'll get suspended-" Instead he got hit in the head by Agamemnon. Promptly falling to the ground, he heard at least two others gasp. 

"Oh- sorry-" Agamemnon spluttered, stepping back.

Hector scrambled to his feet. "Are you alright?"

Odysseus winced a bit, sitting on the floor. He felt where he'd gotten hit and realised there was a small cut there. He cursed, hoping he didn't get a _second_ black eye. His black eye from Monday was still there, slightly faded but still painful. (Not to mention how ridiculous he'd look).

"Fuck you," he spat, standing up. He looked at Agamemnon accusingly. "You- you never think, do you? You go in with your fists, not your brain. It's going to get you into all sorts of trouble," he realised he was pointing his finger at him. "And even worse, you'll get one of us in trouble," getting fed up, he sighed and rubbed his aching head.

"Well, you're pretty pathetic too, aren't you?" Agamemnon began, everyone else shaking their head in worry. Attacking Odysseus had never been a good idea, always being loaded with blackmail of some sort. "Falling in love with a Fairest, huh?"

Odysseus froze. He felt everyone else do the same. His face must have seemed confused because Agamemnon then smirked. 

"That's right, our lovely Odysseus has a _helpless_ crush on Penelope Icarius," he taunted.

Odysseus began to slowly shake his head. He didn't look at anyone or their reactions, looking dead straight at Agamemnon and his punchable face. His eyes betrayed him and they fell upon Clytemnestra, the only one (apart from Helen) who knew about it prior- the only who could've known.

"I'm sorry Odysseus, he took my phone and..." Clytemnestra tried to defend herself to no avail.

Odysseus simply turned around and began walking off. He hadn't realised he was shaking and ignored the shouts from his friends. He was _really_ tired. Despite the early nights, he just wanted it to be the holidays so he could do _nothing_ all day long. 

It was only when he was in his car when he realised he didn't even get to speak to Diomedes. _Only two days,_ he figured. The weekend was two days. Diomedes could wait two days. He didn't even know what to tell him yet, and now that _everyone_ knew about Penelope, things would get more complex. Not to mention the whole school would find out by Monday. 

He drove back home, drowning out his thoughts with loud music. 

**\---**

Meanwhile, Achilles was glaring at Agamemnon. Patroclus watched worriedly as everyone seemed speechless, also snatching odd looks at Agamemnon. 

Hector gave a shaking breath. "Sorry about that," he muttered before leaving. 

This left Agamemnon with nothing. He turned to face the others, perhaps realising his mistake but he didn't show it if he did. "He wasn't going to tell anyone and everyone basically knew anyway," he shrugged.

"No one knew," Penelope said, after the pause when no one spoke. She glanced at Diomedes, who seemed more shaken up then when they found Odysseus all passed out. "Darn you Agamemnon,"

He seemed to realise people were mad at him. "Oh come on guys, this whole thing is his fault anyway,"

"How is it his fault?" Achilles began slowly.

"His notebook and everything," Agamemnon tried to explain.

"That was clearly an accident. He was just as worried and distraught like us. It wasn't his fault," Achilles replied, eying Agamemnon closely.

"Well, I'm sorry then," Agamemnon said in a tone that isn't usually associated with apologies. 

Achilles wasn't convinced. "You have to promise to not fight Hector again. Or Paris. We _all_ need to agree on a revenge plan together. With no useless fistfights,"

Agamemnon didn't seem to like this. "Why? You guys aren't doing anything,"

"We were waiting to see what Paris's full plan was- and for Odysseus to come back," Achilles said. Everyone else was watching quietly. Achilles rarely contributed to any confrontations so when he did it was definitely, not good.

Agamemnon stood his ground. "Of course we wait for Odysseus. We don't need him. Anyway, I've scared Hector and that's more than what any of you have done,"

"Scaring Hector? What's that supposed to do? It's Paris we need to deal with. And you need to promise to not fight him," Achilles said in a firm voice.

"Why should I listen to you?" Agamemnon said in an equally strong voice. Menelaus was slowly shaking his head, hoping his brother would shut up.

Achilles paused for a bit. Agamemnon was technically higher than him in the social hierarchy, only because his father was rich and fancy. He had no threat against him. "If you don't, then I'll have to resign being on the football team,"

This did seem to shock the group. "Agamemnon, maybe you should calm down," Menelaus began to say but he shook his head.

"No, I won't. You can't control me," Agamemnon persisted.

Achilles was getting mad. Agamemnon was making it seem like he was in the right and that Achilles was attacking him. "Then I'll leave. I won't play anymore,"

"Wait, but we need you," Diomedes managed to say. "As Patroclus said, you're our best player,"

"If Agamemnon thinks he is so amazing, then I'm sure you'll be alright," Achilles fumed, staring straight at Agamemnon. "Good luck. I'm going to tell Coach that I'm leaving," and he walked off.

"Go and apologize, please," Clytemnestra pleaded, looking at her boyfriend.

Agamemnon didn't. 

**\---**

Upon entering his home, Odysseus hadn't realised both his parents were back from work. Daphne seemed to be having earlier shifts, he figured. 

"What happened?" Anticlea exclaimed, walking towards him as he entered the kitchen. "Are you alright?"

"Did you get into another fight? This is the second time this week," Daphne said worriedly as she inspected the cut on his cheekbone. 

"I tried to stop this one," he sighed, ignoring his nurse mother's fingers fiddling with a bandaid she somehow procured and put onto the cut. 

"Did you talk to Diomedes?" Anticlea asked, sighing. 

"No. The fight distracted me," he muttered. "I'll talk to him later," _After I ignore him all weekend_.

"Honey, don't try to get into more fights, alright?" Daphne looked stern but ruffled Odysseus's hair. 

"Oh," Anticlea remembered. "I called Sisyphus. He said you can meet him on Sunday. He lives in the City,"

"So it's like two hours away," Odysseus calculated. 

"You and I can go up tomorrow afternoon and stay in a hotel," Anticlea said.

"Sounds good," Odysseus nodded. He wasn't feeling too well while thinking about that whole dilemma. 

"Brilliant," Anticlea smiled and went back to the kitchen.

"Stay safe, alright?" Daphne said, smiling. 

Odysseus nodded and entered his bedroom, slightly exhausted. He tried to mentally prepare himself for the weekend but he kept getting distracted. 

"Odysseus?" he turned to see Ctimene at his door. 

"What is it," he frowned, collapsing back onto his bed. 

He heard her come in and sit on his chair. _Great._ That meant a conversation. "Where are you going with mom on the weekend? How come I have to stay with friends _all_ weekend?"

"You'll be with Mitera," Odysseus said.

"No, she's working basically _all_ weekend," Ctimene whined. "And you get to go on a fun road trip to the city with mom,"

"It won't be fun," he assured.

"Yes, it will!!" she insisted. "Why are you going anyway?"

Odysseus wondered if she knew about it. "I'm going to meet my dad,"

"But I thought you hated him," she frowned.

"No, not...him. My biological one," Odysseus tried to explain. He remembered that she _was_ only 9 (or 8?) and even though she'd managed to understand her own adoption and having two mom's, she had some difficulty figuring out divorce.

"But isn't he mom's old husband? Your dad?" _ex-husband_ , Odysseus mentally corrected her. 

"Yes. I adopted," he finally said, sighing.

"Like me?" she said in an excited voice, standing up. "Maybe we're related!"

"I really doubt it," Odysseus said in amusement. 

This didn't falter her. "So you're meeting your real dad?"

 _Real dad._ Odysseus paused. "I guess so," 

"That means you have so many moms and dads," Ctimene said, counting on her fingers.

Odysseus didn't reply. He didn't quite want to speak to Ctimene about everything that was happening. Even if she was probably one of the only people who could understand him. 

She shuffled a bit. "Are you scared? About meeting him?"

"I guess," Odysseus said, his mind buzzing with no thought in particular. 

"He's not really your dad though. He didn't raise you," Ctimene kept speaking. "Mom and Mitera are your parents. And mine!"

Odysseus thought about this. She was right, as much as he didn't want to admit. He didn't know who Sisyphus was, really. He recalled his many memorised arguments that he used against people who were against same-sex parents.

_Family is about love and how you raise your children. How you acquired them was a technicality, whether through surrogacy, donors or adoption._

Even if his case wasn't for homosexual parents, he realised the same easily applied to other couples. 

He was an idiot, he would admit. But he wouldn't admit it to Ctimene. 

"Thank you," he simply said. 

"For what?" Ctimene tilted her head in confusion. 

"Nothing," he sat up properly. "I think you'll survive this weekend,"

"Are you sure?" she groaned. "Can I have your laptop? Mitera banned me from the family one,"

"What? No," Odysseus reached for his backpack and made sure she could snatch it from him as she had done so many times before. "Go steal mom's laptop of something,"

"Aw," she complained but left his bedroom, calling for Anticlea.

Odysseus sighed, letting go of his backpack. He should pack for tomorrow, he figured.

**\---**

Diomedes wasn't having a great time but he managed to muster up the courage to tell Clytemnestra. He managed to convince her of _not_ telling Penelope, who was now boxed up in her bedroom pondering about Odysseus's alleged 'crush' on her. 

"Go on, knock," she urged him. She had accompanied him to the Autolycus Household.

He took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. After a moment, Clytemnestra holding her breath as she waited behind him.

The door opened. "Hello?" 

"Hey, Ctimene," Diomedes looked down at the young girl. "Is Odysseus home?"

"No, he ditched me," she rolled her eyes.

"Where is he?" Diomedes asked.

"He went with mom to the _City,"_ she said simply, remembering Odysseus telling her to not tell his friends where he was and why he was there before leaving. 

"Oh," Diomedes muttered. _Why had he gone?_

Someone else came up to the door behind Ctimene. "Oh, hello, Diomedes, Clytemnestra," It was Daphne, dressed up in her nurses uniform. 

"Hello Mrs Autolycus," Diomedes smiled. Clytemnestra waved.

"Ctimene, go make sure all your things are packed," Daphne told Ctimene, who ran off. She turned to face them. "So, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Um, Ctimene says Odysseus is out?" Diomedes asked. He watched her eyes flicker a bit. Did he tell her? Did teenage boys usually tell their parents when their friends kissed them?

"Yes, he's out with Anticlea," Daphne nodded. "I can tell him you guys stopped by. He'll be back by Sunday afternoon,"

"Alright, thank you," Diomedes nodded. He turned around to face Clytemnestra when Daphne closed the door. "I told you it wasn't going to work,"

"How was I supposed to know he'd leave town?" Clytemnestra exclaimed in defence. "He never even told us,"

Diomedes groaned. "This is all going wrong. This week has been actual hell," 

Clytemnestra agreed. "I'm sure Odysseus is just...freaking out just like you,"

"Enough to _leave town?_ " 

"It's probably for some other reason,"

"That he never told _any_ of us? Not even me on Tuesday, before all this mess," Diomedes rubbed his forehead. 

Clytemnestra shook her head. "Maybe he's got other things to worry about as well. I mean, he's still worrying about the notebook thing, and now Penelope,"

Diomedes stared at the pavement. _And Penelope._

_**\---** _

Odysseus had his notebook, headphones and hours worth of music to listen to on the road trip. But he found himself not using any of it and instead, staring out of the window. 

"Why did you adopt me?" he asked out of the blue, interrupted the calm silence. 

Anticlea seemed surprised at the question. "Why?"

"Yes. You could've easily just...conceived a child, why didn't you?"

Anticlea glanced over at her son. "Your father- I mean, my ex-husband, he was infertile. He proposed the adoption,"

Odysseus pondered over the question for a short while. "And he's the one who left us? That's stupid," he found himself saying.

"It was, rather," Anticlea mused. "I guess it made it easier with Ctimene, and I got a wonderful son in the process,"

Odysseus thought about Ctimene again. Anticlea and Daphne were his parents, not even his ex-father counted as a parental figure in his life. Meeting Sisyphus was a matter of interest and curiosity. Whatever came of it, Odysseus assured himself everything would be alright.

Even _if_ Sisyphus's file seemed rather dodgy. 

**~**

Back at the hotel, it was evening and Odysseus had finished _trying_ to work out his plan with Paris. His motivation lacked due to his anger that was still towards Agamemnon. Sure, he was on _his_ side but he didn't want to work with Agamemnon, not when he could mess everything up with an ill-timed punch. 

"You alright?" Daphne entered the room. 

"Yeah," he looked up. She had a phone in her hand. 

"YCtimene wants to speak to you," she passed the phone to him, and he stared at it in his hands.

"Hello?" (Daphne exited the room).

 _"Odysseus!"_ his sister's voice came through the speakers crisply.

"Hey," he lay back onto the bed.

 _"Diomedes came this morning!_ " she said, making Odysseus freeze. " _I told him you went into the city. He came with that other girl, with really curly hair,"_

"...Clytemnestra?" Odysseus frowned.

_"Yeah, her!"_

"Why did she come?" Did Diomedes tell her? Odysseus began scribbling into his notebook again, by habit.

" _I don't know. He asked for you,"_

It was probably about the kiss. "Oh," was all Odysseus managed to say.

" _And Achilles came over a few hours ago. He was asking for you as well. Then that girl's sister-"_ Helen? "- _came around too. You're pretty popular, I think,"_ Ctimene summarised.

Odysseus wondered, what went down after he left? Maybe something happened. "Thanks. I'll call them later,"

" _Alright!"_

The conversation after that was pretty dry. When he hung up, he picked up his own phone, realising he had a lot of unread messages. Skimming them, they were mostly from his friends wondering where he'd gone on the weekend. 

Instead of replying, he went straight to his contacts to ask someone what happened. But who? Definitely not the Priam twins, or the Tyndareus sisters. Or Penelope. His heart dropped when he remembered her. Postponing that thought for later, he finally decided on calling Patroclus. 

Waiting for him to pick up, Odysseus stared at his notebook. It had a bunch of notes on the pages in his incomparable handwriting along with complete nonsense he'd written during moments of stress. 

" _Hello? Odysseus?"_

"Pat! You answered,"

 _"Yes? Where are you? Everyone's wondering,"_ Patroclus asked.

"I'm...just visiting family," he lied, justifying it with the fact it wasn't technically a lie.

" _Oh. Well, are you alright? You got punched pretty hard by Agamemnon, and you seemed quite shaken when the Penelope thing came,"_ Patroclus inquired.

Odysseus remembered. "Right, yeah, I forgot that was part of this. I was just calling to see what had happened after I left," he avoided answering the question. He couldn't answer it because he hadn't quite yet resolved the Penelope thing yet. Or the Diomedes thing. _Deal with it all on Monday,_ he sighed.

" _Oh, that. Achilles quit the team,"_

"What?" Odysseus's fingers almost slipped off his pen. "Why?"

" _He told Agamemnon off for fighting and to not do it again so they could think up a solid revenge plan or whatever,"_

"It was a threat?" Odysseus realised. "And Agamemnon didn't take it?"

" _No. Achilles is standing his ground. Coach Ares is really mad but we can't do anything,"_

"But the semi-finales are coming, wouldn't Achilles want to play?"

 _"I'm not sure. But I think he's wanted to get Agamemnon back for ages,"_ Patroclus's exasperation was evident through the call.

"Oh. I see," Odysseus nodded. "That's a shame. Hopefully, Agamemnon would step up and apologize," _He probably won't._ Getting what he came for and before Patroclus could turn the conversation to Penelope, he said goodbye. "I probably should go to sleep," he said.

" _Oh, alright. Enjoy your weekend,"_

**\---**

Penelope was sitting on the floor, looking at some homework papers she had on the coffee table. It was Sunday morning and a disastrous one at that.

Still confused about the whole Odysseus thing, and with little information, she had exhausted herself with hopeful explanations all day yesterday. And now finding out from Patroclus that he'd disappeared on a trip, it didn't help.

She wanted to speak to him, not over the phone but in person. She now had to wait until Monday. _Although,_ she shrugged, it might be better to wait until then, to figure out her thoughts.

"Penny," her mom entered the kitchen. "I'm going to drop Ctimene back home. Watch Iphthime,"

Penelope nodded. "Okay," One of Odysseus's mom's had asked if Ctimene could stay with them overnight last night since they were at work and the other was with Odysseus in the city. 

"Bye, mommy!" Penelope's younger sister called before entering the lounge room.

Iphthine seemed tired from jumping about all day playing with her friend, Ctimene but she still found the energy to annoy Penelope. "Hey!"

"I'm busy," she sighed, turning back to her homework. 

"Sure," Iphthime taunted teasingly. "I still can't believe you didn't know Odysseus was in the city. Isn't he your friend? Are you a bad friend?"

Penelope shut her eyes in annoyance. "Go away, Iphthime," 

"Aw, come on," she lay down on the couch playfully. "Did you know he's going to meet his daddy?"

"His father?" Penelope paused for a moment. He was going to meet with his father? That he despised for ditching him and his mom? "Why?"

"I don't know, beats me. _You're_ the one who's supposed to be his friend," she rolled her eyes.

Penelope glanced at her phone for a second before picking it up.

**_To 'The Fairest':_ Did you guys know Odysseus was going to the city to meet his father?**

(She pressed 'send').

Quickly, she added: **Don't tell anyone I told you guys.**

Quite promptly she got a reply from Helen. 

_**Helen:** _ **Wait, what?**

**_Penelope:_ Yeah, I'm confused too.**

**_Clytemnestra:_ Didn't Odysseus like...not like him?**

**_Helen:_ This is his mom's ex-husband right?**

**_Penelope:_ Yeah, his dad. **

**_Helen:_ How did you find out about this? Wouldn't he have told someone?**

**_Penelope:_ Iphthime told me. Ctimene stayed over last night. She must've told her.**

**_Clytemnestra:_ Have you spoken to him yet, Penny?**

**_Penelope:_ No. I was planning to on Monday since he's gone this weekend.**

(Diomedes was planning to speak to Odysseus on Monday, Clytemnestra remembered).

**_Clytemnestra:_ Don't you think he'd maybe be upset by then? **

**_Penelope:_ Most likely, I'd think.**

**_Clytemnestra:_ Maybe postpone it? So he isn't overwhelmed.**

**_Helen:_ He might faint again [crossed-eyes emoji. Laughing emoji].**

**_Penelope:_ You're right. He must've been really stressed to pass out for no reason. I don't want to add to that.**

**_Clytemnestra:_ it wasn't for 'no' reason.**

**_Helen:_ What are you going to tell him? Do you like him back?**

Penelope frowned at both messages. What did Clytemnestra mean it 'wasn't for no reason'? And she had tried to think about what she'd do. No one in her family except her cousins knew about Odysseus's supposed crush on her. If her parents found out (or Iphthime), she'd get grounded even though she had no hand in it. 

She couldn't even _date_ him if she wanted to, with her father's strict rules on dating. She always found that odd, seeing as he let her do basically anything else. Just no relationships.

 ** _Penelope:_ What do you mean it wasn't for no reason? **(She texted first).

**_Penelope:_ I don't think I _can_ tell him much. I can't date him, even if I wanted to.**

**_Helen:_ Why not? You could in secret. It could be very romantic [heart eyes emoji].**

**_Clytemnestra:_ Wym?**

**_Penelope:_ you said it wasn't for 'no' reason. What do _you_ mean by that?**

Penelope thought for a bit, as Clytemnestea's 'typing' bubbled popped up and down. Was there another reason to why Odysseus fainted? Only Diomedes was there. 

She was interrupted by a ringtone coming from her phone. A group face-time call. 

"Who's that?" Iphthime asked.

"Beat it," she shot a look at her sister and left the lounge. Entering her bedroom she answered. "Hey!"

Clytemnestra was in her bedroom, obviously lazing around in her pyjamas. Helen was in the bathroom, doing her hair. 

"Yeah, what did you mean 'it wasn't for no reasons?', Cly?" Helen asked, her screen lagging a bit as she combed her hair.

"Um," Clytemnestra began. "Don't tell anyone but..." and she spilled the beans on Diomedes' problem. ( _Never trust one of the Fairest, they gossip between each other and before you know it the secrets out,_ Odysseus always advised everyone. Helen always joked about it as well, because it was true. Penelope was probably the only who could hide a secret for longest, but even then it would be a week or two before the secret was out to her cousins). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for this being one day late, I was stressing with some homework...aha *cries*


	7. VII. Returning Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> meeting and leaving

**TW/CW: homophobia (and insults), internalized homophobia, coarse language.**

"Are you ready?" Anticlea asked as she stopped the car in the parking spot. She looked over at her son. 

Odysseus didn't answer, instead, looking out of the window where Sisyphus's house was. It seemed like a normal house, that mirrored all of the other houses in their neighbourhood. This sort of reassured him. 

"Odysseus?" 

"Huh?" He turned to face his mom. "Right, yes. I am," he nodded.

"Alright. I'll be right here in the car doing some work," Anticlea said, taking out her laptop from her bag. "If you need anything I'll be here," 

"Okay. Thank you," Odysseus smiled and opened the door. Taking a breath, he stepped out and closed the door.

_It's time._

He walked up the driveway and knocked on the door. He was greeted with another boy, a little older than him.

"Um- hi, I'm Odysseus?" he looked at him. 

With a judgy look, he replied, "Oh, right. I'm Glaucus, your...stepbrother,"

"Oh," Odysseus nodded. "Right, nice to meet you,"

"Mm," Glaucus didn't say much. "Come in. Dad's in the dining room,"

He led Odysseus inside. The inside of the house was very different from the very presentable outside of the house. There was an odd lingering smell and the floorboards creaked.

"Dad, that Laertes kid is here," Glaucus said in a monotonic voice. 

Then Odysseus met his biological father. Sisyphus turned around, facing him. Sisyphus had dark rusty brown hair and looked as if he hadn't shaved or changed clothes for a week. 

"You must be Odysseus," he said, with a toothy grin. Before Odysseus could speak, Sisyphus called to Glaucus. "Stay and join your family." he scolded Glaucus, who had tried to sneak into his room.

 _Family._ Odysseus stopped himself from frowning. "Um, hi,"

"Sit down," Sisyphus sat back down on a chair, putting down the beer bottle in his hand. 

Odysseus joined him on the table. Glaucus reluctantly did too. 

"So, Odysseus, are you a good kid? Do well in school?" Sisyphus asked, his eyes flickering about as he inspected him.

The question usually annoyed Odysseus as it usually was the only question adults asked kids, but now, he didn't know quite how to answer; does he just say 'oh, it's fine,' like any other unamused student? "Uh, yes, uh I'm top of my year," Odysseus replied.

"See? You can do better," Sisyphus rolled his eyes at Glaucus, who didn't make an amused reaction. "At least _one_ of my son's has something to be proud of,"

Odysseus felt a flicker of annoyance. He wasn't a stranger to being used as a level of expectation to others, but usually, it wasn't as harsh as Sisyphus was directing it to be. "It's not very important," he found himself saying, hoping Glaucus wouldn't blame him on his father's accusations. He didn't need more enemies. 

"Of course it is," Sisyphus dismissed him. "Anyway, what do your...moms do?" 

Odysseus noted the delay in saying 'moms'. "Oh, well, Anticlea is a lawyer and Daphne is a nurse," 

"How is having two moms? How much of a man are you?" Glaucus smirked. Sisyphus didn't tell him off.

Odysseus was surprised at the comment. "I-I don't know what you mean," _He did._

Glaucus laughed. "Wow, you are dumb," he leaned forward. "Do you know how to shave? Or change a tire?"

Odysseus tried to minimize the growing distaste for his step-brother. "I'm not sure if you knew...but females _are_ capable of doing both those things," 

Glaucus didn't seem impressed by his response. "Jeez, I guess not having a dad made you different," 

_Perhaps, but it's better than being like you,_ Odysseus grimaced but held his tongue. He glanced at Sisyphus, who was drinking his beer. "Uh, so...how- what has been going on in the past...16 years?" he asked Sisyphus.

He eyed Odysseus. "Not a lot," putting down the bottle, he shrugged. "Got engaged a couple of times...had a child..."

"Right," Odysseus nodded, not quite sure how to reply or carry the conversation. 

Glaucus began talking again. "You got a boyfriend?" he asked bluntly, without any lead-up.

This almost caught Odysseus off guard. His thoughts skimmed past Diomedes and Penelope. "No," 

"I don't believe you,"

"Then why do you ask?" Odysseus shot back, feeling more unsure than when he walked in. Glaucus just shrugged. 

"Don't listen to him, he broke up with his girlfriend for the third time this month," Sisyphus waved off. 

"Don't judge," Glaucus whined to his father. He faced Odysseus. " _He_ got dumped twice this _week,_ " 

Odysseus blinked. "Uh," he spluttered. "I'm sorry?"

"You should be," Glaucus crossed his arms, not making much sense. 

"So no girlfriend?...Or a boyfriend?" Sisyphus asked, adding on 'boyfriend' like a bad taste in his mouth. 

Odysseus felt the lowkey homophobia in the environment. Usually, in a similar situation, he would've left and ignored the person, but this time it was his _father._ And he needed to answer. "As I told Glaucus, no, I don't,"

Sisyphus grunted. "Huh,"

Odysseus decided to test his luck. Sisyphus wasn't _really_ his father, not in a way that counted anyway. And Odysseus' natural instinct to this sort of attitude was to call them out. "Disappointed?"

Sisyphus paused and Glaucus raised an eyebrow. Sisyphus replied. "Figured you might be a poof like your parents,"

Odysseus stood up. He didn't know why he stood up, perhaps the adrenaline that had been building up reached its peak. "R-right," the hand that he was gesturing about was shaking. "You're not supposed to call people that,"

Sisyphus shook his head. "I guess not all my kids are perfect," he shrugged.

"Thanks for meeting with me," Odysseus finally said, turning around. Why he was leaving, he didn't know but all his nerves were leading him to the front door. Ignoring Sisyphus's calls, his fingers fumbling on the door handle.

"Hey," 

Odysseus spun around, facing what was his step-brother. "What?"

Glaucus towered over Odysseus, who was rather tall for his age. "You really think you can hide the _fairy_ in you?" he sneered, getting his face too close for comfort.''

Odysseus stumbled back, wide-eyed and angry at _whoever_ this was standing in front of him. "What? I already said-"

But he couldn't finish as Glaucus had pushed him against the wall. His chest felt tight as he scrambled out of Glaucus's firm grip on his shoulder. 

"What the hell-" he exclaimed, shoving Glaucus's hand off him. 

"Don't come back," Glaucus glared, opening the front door. "We don't need a fucking deviant in our family,"

"I don't even want to be a part of it if you're going to be like that," Odysseus breathed sharply through his teeth, pushing the door wider open as he stepped out.

He heard Glaucus yelling something after him, but he was too focused on the blood pumping around his head. Next thing he knew he was fumbling about for the seatbelt in his mom's car.

"Odysseus! Can you hear me?" 

He whipped around and realized where he was. "Yes," he blurted out, glancing back at the house, where the door was shut.

"What-what happened? Are you alright?" Anticlea was patting her hands all over Odysseus, checking for goodness knows what. 

"I'm- I'm fine, let's just please leave," Odysseus said, staring dead forward. 

"Ok..." Anticlea frowned, starting up the engine. "Are you sure? What happened?"

"Please," Odysseus muttered, leaning back on the seat. He took out his phone to put on music- perhaps to drown out every thought that might come. 

**Penelope sent you a message: _Heyy Odysseus where the frick are you?_**

**Clytemnestra sent you a message: _Where are you????_**

**Achilles sent you a message: _You'll never believe Agamemnon he sucks_**

His eyes skimmed past the text message notifications he'd gotten and went straight to his music app. 

"Odysseus? Did you hear anything I said?" Anticlea asked, in a worried voice.

Odysseus looked up, putting one earbud into his ear. "No, sorry," He felt his chest-beating heavily and the moving car did not help his spinning thoughts.

Anticlea paused. "You look really distraught, what happened? Did he hurt you?"

 _No, no, no, no, no,_ Odysseus fiddled with his earbud wires. "No. I just want silence, for now," he muttered.

"Oh. Ok," Anticlea frowned, but rubbed her son's shoulder before continuing to make their way home. 

**~**

Upon returning home, Odysseus went straight to his room in silence. Anticlea recapped the odd events to Daphne and the two of them tried to figure out what to do.

In numbness, Odysseus collapsed onto his bed, tired, angry, and frustrated. Returning to his room, he instantly remembered everything from school, about how he was mad at Agamemnon and Diomedes- and the whole thing with Helen.

 _Too much,_ he figured and tried to go to sleep.

Despite this, Ctimene entered, sneaking past their parents. "Odysseus?" she whispered from the door.

Odysseus groaned but didn't answer. His eyes glanced over to the numbers glowing on his digital clock. 

_9:23 pm._

It was certainly past her bedtime. He heard her feet step over his bedroom floor mess over to his bed and soon enough, felt her side at the end of it.

"Odysseus? I know you're awake,"

Odysseus groaned and flopped around. "What is it?" He could see Ctimene faintly in the darkroom from the warm light seeping in from the hallway.

"How was it? I know _I had_ an awfully boring time," Ctieme rolled her eyes, swinging her legs eagerly. 

Odysseus blinked. She was probably too young to understand anything that had happened. "It was alright," he lied.

"Then why did you come _straight_ into your room? And mom and Mitera were talking about you in the kitchen," Ctimene pouted. 

Odysseus sighed. "It's...he wasn't very nice, that's all," 

Ctimene's expression was incomparable in the dark. "Oh. I'm sorry," 

She said something else but Odysseus wasn't paying attention. He saw her give up and leave, and he turned back to face his empty wall. 

With sighs and many frowns, he figured; at least he was home. Home and safe. Ctimene may have been young and naive but the child mind sometimes strips everything into the core details that usually get hidden by the complexities in life.

She was right. His many different parents didn't define him. He of all people should know that. He knew that.

And he knew that he had to face his friends the next day.

**~~**

Yes, Patroclus was worried. Everyone was. In the height of concern for Odysseus.

Patroclus had literally attended the school for just a little over a week and he knew that Odysseus was acting unusual that weekend. 

Despite this, he managed to come back to school as his normal self, ignoring or not acknowledging the disappearance. 

Patroclus watched as throughout the day Odysseus walked through the hallways with white flashes from his camera as his footsteps were followed by the usual sounds of scribbles from his pen and notebook. 

"Has anyone asked him yet?" Patroclus asked in Art Class. Achilles glanced over at where Patrolucs was looking. 

Achilles' paintbrush hovered over the water cup. "I don't think so. He seemed normal at recess,"

"That's what Clytemnestra said," Patroclus frowned. Odysseus was pretending to paint some still life but they could see he was translating something for the newsletter. 

"I need more colours," Achilles sighed before leaving Patroclus on his own for a bit. 

Trying to concentrate on his failing art piece, a sudden voice interrupted him. "Pat right?"

"Pat?" Patroclus turned to face a taller student. He recognised him. "It's Patroclus,"

"Right, sorry," he said. "I'm Ajax. You're good at football right?"

Patroclus seemed taken aback by the sudden conversation. "I mean, certainly not as good as you guys?" Ajax was on the football team with Achilles. Or at least, was until Achilles quit. 

"Diomedes recommended you. Do you think you could join the team?" Ajax asked. "Losing out best player wasn't the best thing, especially now. Hector supported Diomedes' recommendation,"

Why would Hector or Diomedes recommend Patroclus for the team, he didn't know. "I'll think about it," he finally said. That seemed to satisfy Ajax as he left to his own work.

Patroclus' eyes flickered over to where Achilles was getting ready to carry his new paints back to their table. Achilles _was_ complaining about Agamemnon at the break. Would it be fair for him to join the team Achilles quit as a protest?

"I'm back," Achilles smiled as he announced his return. 

So Patroclus shoved the thoughts away for later.

**~**

Odysseus scrunched his nose as his glasses slipped down his nose. Rattling his brain for the correct words he didn't notice Miss Athena presence.

"Ahem, Mr Laertes?" 

Odysseus jumped at the sound of his name. "Sorry!" he exclaimed, realising he had completely dozed out of existence. He had dropped his pencil. He faced the teacher. "Sorry, Miss Athena,"

The curly-haired brunette frowned at him. "You aren't doing your work,"

"I..." Odysseus glanced at his rough outline of a single pear and the smudge of green paint on his canvas. "...got distracted,"

"Extracurriculars shouldn't distract from class," Athena scolded calmly. "I might have to confiscate your notebook,"

There was no deeper intention to those words but Odysseus' memory flashed back to the party and his lost notebook. He couldn't spare to leave another one out of his sight. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Enjoy painting," Athena said in her soft voice, before turning to another student.

Odysseus sighed, looking at the young art teacher. Athena _was_ one of his favourite teachers. She also taught History and somehow made it not boring (at least, not to him).

Deciding the worth of losing his notebook again didn't match the worth of actually painting, he picked up the paintbrush and frowned at his singular pear. 

**~**

"Mr Laertes, will you stay behind?" Miss Athena called as the students rustled out of the room. Odysseus glanced at Achilles and Patroclus, who were lingering behind before they followed everyone else out.

Odysseus waited until the bright room was empty except with him and Miss Athena. "Yes?"

Miss Athena looked over at his art piece that still stood on the stand along with other student's art pieces. "These are very hard brush strokes. You must have had a hard grip on the brush,"

When Odysseus didn't say anything she continued. 

"You don't have a heavy grip, Odysseus. Your handwriting is usually very light," she faced him. "Is something bothering you? You understand I do not want anything to pressure you harder than school does already. I can lighten the load of homework if you need it to be,"

Odysseus was surprised. Sure, Miss Athena was nice but he didn't expect her to notice his distance. "I'm fine, I promise," he assured. 

She didn't falter. "I heard that your friend Achilles left the football team,"

"That is correct," Odysseus nodded. He had written a piece on it for the newsletter. 

"Conflict between friends or classmates usually leads to wrongs for all. It isn't ideal," Miss Athena began. "There are bigger things in the future to be concerned about. More important things. Sometimes you have to deal with the imperfections for the bigger picture," 

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," Odysseus started but she replied.

"You will, soon," Athena smiled. "You may go to your next class,"

And what next? Odysseus wondered as he walked down the relatively empty hallways. Did she know what she was saying? He had many imperfections in his life right then. He had managed to avoid Diomedes all day. He spoke to everyone else, although the Fairest did give him odd looks during their short conversations. 

Helen didn't speak to him. Paris and Agamemnon stalked past him in the hallways. 

What was he supposed to do?

 _Talk to Diomedes,_ his brain said. And logically, it was the easiest thing to do but Odysseus dismissed it. He needed to deal with the Paris problem. The original problem. 

And now there were more stakes at hand, the next game. Without Achilles, they weren't as strong as the other teams. They could spare Agamemnon and Achilles wouldn't rejoin the team with him on it.

How to get Agamemnon to leave? Who knew. 

Odysseus noticed Agamemnon and Menelaos near their lockers. He frowned. Menelaos was surprisingly out of the picture, as Miss Athena put it. It was mostly Agamemnon that was the problem, apart from Paris. 

Perhaps he could get Menelaos, or even Agamemnon to do the dirty work. To get rid of Paris and in the process, themselves. 

_A plan._

"Agamemnon," Odysseus smiled as he paused walking. 

"Odysseus?" Menelaos raised an eyebrow.

"And Menelaos," Odysseus nodded. "I have a plan to stop Paris. Or to get back Helen," (He didn't).

Agamemnon paused. "You do?"

No.

Odysseus nodded again. "Yes. Declare war," (What are you doing? He pestered himself but kept going).

"Declare war?" Menelaos repeated slowly.

"Find a threat, blackmail, _something_ to get Paris out of the picture," 

"Aren't you the keeper of all secrets? If you have none how can we do anything?" 

Odysseus didn't falter. "Paris never liked me. You have some leverage, your families being friends...or whatever,"

Agamemnon didn't seem convinced. "He won't stop at anything,"

"Punching him won't work either," Odysseus noted. "He has blackmail against Helen," he finally said. "We need something to overpower that,"

Menelaos stared at him. "Alright. We'll look for things after school,"

"We need it all done by Friday. We need Achilles back," Odysseus reminded.

Agamemnon didn't say anything but agreed with his brother. 

How that worked, Odysseus would never know.

**~**

Walking down the hallways, Patroclus finally said it. "Please rejoin the football team,"

"Why?" Achilles looked at his friend like he said something absurd. 

"Because Ajax offered me to join and I don't want to," Patroclus blurted out.

Achilles paused and looked at Patroclus for a bit. "He did?"

"Yes. At Diomedes and Hector's recommendations. I don't know why," Patroclus began, "But they did,"

Achilles turned back to face forward. "I see. I can't go back,"

"Why not? They need you. All everyone has been talking about this morning _was_ that we are going to lose the game this Friday,"

"That's four days,"

"Four days for you to change your mind?" Patroclus offered hopefully.

"Four days for _you_ to practise," Achilles said. "Join the team. You can lead on," They paused at his locker.

"I can't," Patroclus shook his head. "Not without you. If you carry the team, how am I any part of a replacement? 

"I'll be there. Take my number," Achilles got out his old jersey jacket from the football team. "You'll be number four. If you join. _When_ you join," he corrected. He shoved it into Patroclus' hands. 

Patroclus stared at it. "Do you think we could win?"

"I think you can," 


	8. VIII. Confliction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another kiss and other things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i seriously do not know how this chapter came to be...this week has been hEavy for me so that's why this chapter's a little late coz I had to write it today ah

Patroclus stared dead at the table in front of him. His mind kept forging the memory of the jacket in his locker. The neatly folded jacket that Patroclus placed into his locker after Achilles gave it to him.

After getting over the initial shock of realizing he would have to play in front of people, he became even more shocked about the events he was so sure would play out horribly, following his confession to Achilles about joining the football team in his absence.

It was currently lunch and Patroclus was _still_ trying to get over it. 

Odysseus and Penelope were out doing Newsletter Club errands, Helen and the Atreus brothers were gone goodness knows where, so it was just Patroclus, Diomedes and Clytemnestra left to occupy their cafeteria table.

And Clytemnestra was too busy speaking to Diomedes to bother Patroclus and his internal monologue regarding Achilles. Despite this, Patroclus shook himself out of his mental daze, and while he still continued his flat daze at the empty tabletop, his ears tuned to the noises that came out of Clytemnestra and Diomedes conversation.

In short, Patroclus was bored and began eavesdropping on his friend's conversation.

"I swear he's avoiding me," Diomedes spluttered, shifting in his seat.

"He isn't! He's gone with Penelope remember?" Clytemnestra was assuring him. Patroclus frowned. What and who were they talking about?

"Oh dear, what if they're kissing in some closet somewhere? Remember we always teased him about liking Penelope?" Diomedes replied.

Patroclus connected the dots and realized Odysseus was the topic of conversation. Why was Diomedes concerned? Did they have a fight?

Clytemnestra seemed a little taken aback by his rather logical comment "Yeah...you're right," she sighed. "Look, it will all certainly get better if you _talk_ to him,"

"How can I when he's avoiding me? He literally ran off during the weekend," Diomedes shook his head. "I've barely even seen him today,"

"It's still only Monday. You have the whole week," Clytemnestra suggested.

Diomedes suddenly went stiff. "No. _He_ will talk to me. It's Odysseus, he always gets bored at some point. And if he wants to continue going on as if nothing happened...then maybe it's for the best," his eyes darted to the side. "Anyways, I have the game to worry about," 

Clytemnestra looked defeated.

Patroclus furrowed his eyebrows and used his buzzing head to figure out what had happened. People prior to his arrival considered Odysseus to fancy Penelope, and now for some odd reason, Diomedes and Odysseus were avoiding each other. Or Odysseus was avoiding Diomedes. 

He tried to rack his head to recollect his memories from the past few days but he couldn't find anything that could incriminate either of the two.

Odd.

**~~**

The whole Diomedes issue was the last thing on Odysseus's mind. He was standing in the hallways holding a pile of papers waiting for Penelope to get some staples from the librarian's office. 

"Got them," Penelope smiled as she exited the room. Balancing the stapler carefully in between her fingers she took half of the papers from Odysseus and continued to walk through the library towards the Newsletter club's office room, which was also a storage room in the library.

"So what are these again?" Odysseus asked, referring to the papers in his hand. Penelope had briefly texted him about them the previous week but he'd been so out of it that he barely remembered.

"They're some flyers for the upcoming school dance's organisation committee, silly. I thought you'd be all over it by now," Penelope laughed, opening their office door.

Odysseus blinked. _The school dance._ He may have forgotten about it briskly but now it all came to him. His mind began racing with thoughts and ideas... _oh all the drama._ "It's like last time right? There's a Couple's Fee?"

Penelope nodded, sitting down with all the papers in her hands. "Yup, ever since we added that little feature, the attendance rate shot through the ceiling. That was a brilliant idea of yours," 

Odysseus joined her at the table and skimmed through the flyers. 

**ILIOS HIGH DANCE COMMITTEE: Join to help make it the best ever!**

"So, ahem, are you going?" Odysseus asked.

Penelope's eyes were glued to her fingers fiddling with some tape. "Of course. Who isn't? And with the whole Paris and Helen thing, I'd not be surprised if a showdown happened,"

The room fell into its usual silence as Penelope did things with her half of the flyers and Odysseus began with his pile. 

Of course, asking Penelope to the dance was _ridiculous_ , as she would probably be off with her cousins the whole time and he would be off with other drama's surfacing. It could never work. And he still had to figure out the whole _Diomedes_ thing before lunging himself into other drama- he figured. _Then_ , he could an idea.

They _were_ both part of the newsletter team. Technically, they could invest in the drama _together._

"So," Odysseus found himself saying. "Apart from the Helen stuff, this is usually our best time to get material for the newsletter right?"

"Yeah," Penelope agreed. "I'm already preparing myself to run around with a notebook,"

Odysseus chuckled in amusement. "Same. Well, I was wondering," all of a sudden he realised his palms were sweating and his fingers were slipping on the sticky-tape he was holding. "-if you wanted to come with me to the dance? Like, we can run about together?"

Penelope paused as she glanced at him for a moment before smiling. "Sure thing Odysseus," she turned back to her work. "Although I do think it'd be more productive to split up but, I'm sure having you there to rendezvous back to would be comforting," 

Odysseus nodded, although she didn't notice it. "Yeah. It would," 

**~~**

It was still Monday after school and Patroclus was already stressing about the game on Friday.

They had a practice on Tuesday and another on Thursday but Agamemnon, as team captain, had offered to help Patroclus practice more after school on Monday and Wednesday as well. 

The beginning had started out fine but then Patroclus realised why being on the team must be so difficult with Agamemnon on it. Agamemnon was bossy and acted more superior than anyone else. 

It sounds alright in theory but when you faced him in person it was very tiring to be around. By the first hour, Patroclus already wished it was 5 pm so he could go home.

"Come on, Menoetius," Agamemnon said, in an almost teasing voice. "You need to be up in top shape if you want to help us win,"

Patroclus frowned. "It's been more than an hour, could we have a break?"

"The best don't need breaks," Agamemnon began but was cut off.

"Aw jeez, give him a break Agamemnon," Diomedes, who had arrived at the park, called out. "It's still Monday. I'm sure Patroclus can get to his best by Friday. A worn-out player is a useless player,"

Agamemnon sighed. "Alright fine. I have to go to a restaurant for dinner anyways so I'll see you tomorrow," he grunted before walking off.

"Thank you for saving me," Patroclus thanked Diomedes.

"No worries. I know he can a bit tiring sometimes,"

"Sometimes? _All the time,"_ Patroclus laughed.

Diomedes led Patroclus out of the park. "So, heading home?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Well, I might stop at Odysseus's on the way home,"

Diomedes almost flinched. "Oh, right, well then, I'll be off," he chuckled nervously.

Patroclus immediately remembered the odd conversation he overheard that day during break. "Did something happen between you and Odysseus?"

"No," Diomedes shook his head.

"Then why don't you come with me to visit him? Aren't you his friend?" Patroclus frowned.

"Of course," Diomedes crossed his arms awkwardly. "I...just need to help my mom with something,"

Patroclus paused for a bit as he continued frowning at his friend. "...Hm alright then. I'll catch you later,"

"Yeah...so will I," Diomedes waved and smiled before walking off in the opposite direction.

Patroclus made his way to Odysseus's home, thinking. He certainly acted oddly. That meant something definitively was wrong. But what? Maybe he could tease it out of Odysseus.

Upon arriving at his house, he realised he had never actually been at his house through the front door and only sneaking through Odysseus's bedroom window. 

_Knock knock._

Patroclus looked up as the door was answered. "Hello! I'm Patroclus, Odysseus's friend,"

The woman smiled back. "Nice to meet you, I'm Daphne, his mother," 

"Oh, nice to meet you too," Patroclus put his hands in his pockets awkwardly. 

"Odysseus is in his room, I'll show you in," Daphne said, stepping to the side so Patroclus could walk in.

He stepped in and was let through the house by Daphne. He noticed the minimalistic decor that was very gay. Diverting his eyes back to where Daphne was leading him, he recognised Odysseus's room. 

"Odysseus, your friend Patroclus is here," Daphne announced as she opened the door.

Patroclus heard Odysseus reply before Daphne walked off. He entered. "Hey,"

Odysseus was sitting on the floor with paper scattered all over the place. He was sorting them. "What's up?" he asked, getting up only to sit on the bed.

Patroclus made his way to Odysseus's desk to sit on the chair. "Um, so Achilles gave me his jacket for the football team,"

"I heard you joined," Odysseus nodded. "He gave you his jacket?"

"Yes," Patroclus nodded. "Isn't that something only couples do?"

Odysseus paused. "Hm, yeah I suppose. But he could just be giving it to you since you're replacing him on the team. It could mean many things,"

"It could..." Patroclus sighed. "He's giving so many mixed signals,"

Odysseus sighed. "Yeah. Why don't you ask him to the dance?"

"Dance? What dance?" 

Odysseus broke into a grin. "Right, you're new. It's just a normal school dance. Committee sign-ups are being put up tomorrow but the newsletter team organises it. It's pretty basic,"

"But a lot of drama happens right?" Patroclus guessed.

"Yeah," Odysseus frowned. "So I'll be busy but you should ask him. Then you'll know whether he does like you or not,"

"Yeah, but I may as well just confess everything. Asking someone to a school dance is basically a confession," Patroclus said. "I can't do that,"

"I don't know, these things can be pretty difficult. Or, you could see who he's wanting to take. Like ask who he's taking and if he answers someone cleanly then, bad luck," Odysseus suggested.

Patroclus took in Odysseus's advice. "Yeah, that's not bad. I'll try it out," He remembered Diomedes's dilemma and faced Odysseus. "So, is there anything between you and Diomedes? He seemed pretty upset,"

Odysseus's eyes flickered up to his. "Diomedes? What did he say?"

Patroclus paused. "He was talking to Clytemnestra about it," 

Odysseus seemed to have frozen. "Oh,"

"What is it? Are you alright?" Patroclus frowned. 

"I'm fine," Odysseus breathed slowly out of his nose. "Um," he gestured his hand wonkily at Patroclus. "What, what do you know about it?"

"Um," Patroclus blinked. "Uh, nothing really. Diomedes was acting weird, that's all,"

Odysseus shook his head. "Hm...yeah,"

"So...what happened?"

Odysseus stood up. "Nothing. Nothing really. It just...we haven't worked it out properly yet so...I'll tell you when it's been resolved,"

"Oh, sure," Patroclus frowned. "Alright. Well, thanks for the advice, I'll uh, head off," he stood up as well.

Odysseus smiled again. "Yeah, ok. Good luck practising for the game,"

And so Patroclus left. He left confused about Odysseus and Diomedes and confused about Achilles. A lot of confusion bred in the air.

**~~**

It was Tuesday and Odysseus stood mindlessly in the middle of the corridor. 

"What on earth are you doing?" Clytemnestra smirked, shoving Odysseus to get his attention.

"Huh?"

"You were standing here doing nothing. I'm surprised you didn't get trampled by 7th years," Penelope teased.

"Oh," Odysseus flushed red. "Um, I was-"

Clytemnestra leaned sideways into Odysseus to see where he was looking. His line of vision led right into the Biology room where Diomedes was conversing with Mr Pan. She glanced at Penelope, who shook her head. 

"Why are you staring at Diomedes?" Clytemnestra asked, not knowing Odysseus already knew of her knowledge of the issue. Although Odysseus didn't know of Penelope's knowing. 

Odysseus turned his head to look away from the classroom. "Nothing. I wasn't staring at him,"

"Well, you were staring at the classroom," Clytemnestra insisted. "Anyways, Penelope, let's go say hi. Mr Pan must be boring him out of his wits," she dragged Penelope with her into the classroom, leaving Odysseus awkwardly standing behind them, not wanting to enter. 

But, due to the girl's entrance and Mr Pan's increasing interest in the conversation, Odysseus was dragged into the room by Mr Pan's questioning. 

"I certainly loved your article last week about the Anaxipha Cricket and its natural environment," Mr Pan said directly at Odysseus upon realising his presence that Clytemnestra had made known. 

"Oh, thanks," Odysseus blinked, avoiding Diomedes's gaze.

"And Penelope, you and Odysseus make an excellent team, I love your newsletters," Mr Pan said to Penelope. 

"I didn't know you read it," Penelope frowned in amusement as she remembered some questionable articles she had written the previous week.

"Oh we do," Mr Pan grinned. The conversation turned to something else but Odysseus's eyes betrayed him and fell upon Diomedes.

Diomedes was also trying to avoid eye contact with Odysseus so he was busy watching Mr Pan speak about some type of tree as Odysseus watched him.

It had been perhaps four days since Odysseus had seen Diomedes properly, due to his excellent ability of avoidance. Neither had Odysseus properly thought about the situation about Diomedes. 

All he knew was that he _couldn't_ like Diomedes back- at least, he figured. Was it his moms' fault? That he was more comfortable with his sexuality? Was that a bad thing?

He didn't _want_ to like Diomedes. And he knew he liked Penelope so none of it made sense. 

Sure, Diomedes was attractive but it didn't mean anything- Patroclus for cute for goodness sake, and Odysseus knew that looks weren't the issue. 

It was him. He just couldn't. If he was any other person, then maybe he could. But Odysseus couldn't. 

"Odysseus?" 

"Huh?" he turned around to face whoever had said his name. 

It was Mr Pan. "I have to close up for lunch. Your friends already left," 

Odysseus looked around and realised Clytemnestra and Penelope had disappeared. He really _had_ zoned out. Then he realised Diomedes was still there. If Clytemnestra already knew, he figured it was a setup.

_Darn it._

"So uh, are you going to the cafeteria?" Diomedes asked, picking up his lunch bag as he headed out into the empty corridors.

He should probably continue trying to avoid Diomedes, which meant more lunches in the library but for some reason Odysseus said; "Yeah," 

Odysseus followed Diomedes out. Perhaps his hands were shaking too much or maybe he was too dazed to be concentrating but the books he was holding suddenly lost balance and fell on the floor. 

"Whoops," Odysseus chuckled, trying to lighten the awkward mood. 

"Here, let me help," Diomedes quickly picked up the things that had fallen and placed them back into Odysseus arms, which were already holding other books and papers.

As Odysseus shifted the things around he realised Diomedes was dangerously close to him. Perhaps Diomedes realised this too, as the two of them stood face to face for a few seconds before Odysseus did exactly what every single highschool movie cliche moments do;

He kissed him. 

Why? Odysseus didn't know why but something about Diomedes and the whole alluring aspect of the issue caused him to lean just a little forward and the next thing he knew he was kissing him. 

Diomedes didn't retaliate.

The kiss continued for about five seconds, long enough to feel it but too short for any thoughts to be properly formed.

Odysseus panicked- he shouldn't be kissing him; so he stepped back, staring at Diomedes with an expression of confusion and incredulity. Before Diomedes could open his mouth to say something, Odysseus beat him to it.

"I'm sorry- I can't-" Odysseus spluttered. He took a deep breath to compose himself. "I'm sorry Diomedes...but I can't...I can't do what you want, but," his eyes flickered up to meet his. "-let's stay friends, please,"

Diomedes stared at Odysseus. "S-sure, let's...maybe it's best," he shuffled awkwardly. "No, you're right," 

Odysseus nodded, before turning around and hurriedly walking off in the opposite direction. 

It was for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> yall probably aren't aware of my *slightly* popular mcu highschool over on wattpad (which is completed) uhh but basically i will try to keep updating this like I used to with that one, which is every Tuesday. if i miss one (and since ao3 doesn't have announcements to followers like wattpads) pls just assume its exam week bc that's coming up soon and I *might* miss a week if I haven't got a chapter prepared. but thanks to everyone who's reading!!


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